WASHINGION (OPI) —
President Nixon and Soviet
Jeader Leonid 1. Brezhnev
pledged today to ‘avoid
Military confrontations and
threats of force that might
lead to nuclear war between
their two nations. ‘

In a policy declaration, the
leaders of the iwo nuclear
superpowers agreed to “im-
mediately enter into urgent
consultations with each
other’? should the risk of a
nuclear conflict arise.

Nixon and Brezhnev signed
 the agreement —the cighth
since the start of their
summit talks —in a ceremony
in the East Room of the White
House a few hours before
their scheduled departure
aboard the presidential
jetliner’ for San Clemente,
Calif, for the conclusion of
‘their week-long conference.

In the agreement,. tne two.
leaders promised that the
United States and the Soviet
Unien “will act in such a
Manner as to prevent the
development of situations
capable of causing a
dangerous exacerbation of
their relations, as to avoid
 military confrontations, and
to exclude the outbreak of
nuclear war between them
and between either of* the
parties and other countries.”

The accord also calls for the
signatories to proceed from
the premise that each will
refrain “from the threat or
use of force against the other
party, against the allies of the
other party, and against other
countries, in circumstances
which may endanger
international peace and
security.”

In advance of the signing,
Nixon briefed congressional
leaders of both parties on the
 declaration, which is a state
ment of policy —not a treaty
-- and therefore does not
require Senate ratification.

Presidential adviser Henry
A. Kissinger said the intent of
the doctrine was “‘to prevent
the outbreak of nuclear war.'*

Kissinger said steps toward
the agreement began at the
end of the Moscow. summit
meeting between Nixon and
Brezhnev in May, 1972.
Kissinger said the accord
“can be a_ significant
landmark in relations
between the two great nuclear
powers."”

Tre. accord, effective im-
 mediately, is of unlimited
duration and both parties said
nothing in it would affect ar
impair the right of individual
or collective - self-defense
under the U.N. Charter or
separate treaty obligations,
such as those the United
States has as a member of
NATO.

Asked how the agreement.
might relate to current
American bombing in
Cambodia, Kissinger said
only that such military
operations were in progress
when the agreement was
negotiated.
 
other summit talk in the So
viet Union next year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The
United States and the Soviet
Union Thursday signed an
agreement of principles de
signed to permanently limit nu-
clear weapons by the end of
1974.

President Nixon and Commu-
nist leader Leonid I. Brezhnev
signed for their nations at the
White House. The agreement,
the outstanding accom-
plishment of their summit
talks, was cemented at the
President’s Camp David retreat
in the Maryland mountains.

The two nations agreed as a
matter of principle that efforts
by one or the other to obtain a
nuclear advantage would be in-
consistent with the goal of
strengthening peaceful _rela-
 The agreement is designed to
spur negotiators for both coun-
tries at now-recessed talks in
Geneva. Significantly, the arms
limitation envisioned by the end
of next year would include not
only numbers but the quality of
the missiles themselves.

Nixon and Brezhnev also
agreed that limitation on
strategic offensive arms must
be subject to ‘‘adequate veri-
fication."’ Both nations would
be permitted to modernize and
replace weapons only under
conditions to be agreed upon at
Geneva.

At the same time, Nixon and
Brezhnev signed a 10-year pact
to expand cooperation between
the two countries on peaceful
uses of atomic energy. It suc-
ceeds a_ series of two-year
agreements.

The major points of the com-
pact include: (1) controlling
thermonuclear fusion; (2) re
search on “fast breeder’ reac-
tors which create more fuel
 than they consume; (3) re
search on the _ fundamental
properties of physical matter.
A similar arms _ under-
standing between Nixon and
Brezhnev in 1971 produced
an initial but limited nuclear
weapons acreaamant
 