Agreements between the USA and the Soviet Union, aimed at limiting the production and deployment of nuclear weapons. A first round of meetings (1969–72) produced the SALT I Agreement, which prevented the construction of comprehensive anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems and placed limits on the construction of strategic (i.e. intercontinental) ballistic missiles (ICBM) for an initial period of five years. A SALT II Treaty, agreed in 1979, sought to set limits on the numbers and testing of new types of intercontinental missiles, but it was not ratified by the US Senate. New Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) began in 1982.