Hot Line Agreement (1971)

The original "hot line" agreement was a memorandum of understanding between the United States and the Soviet Union reached in 1963 to establish a direct communications link between the governments of the two nations.

The need for such a communications channel was evident in the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS of 1962 and its establishment was viewed as a means of forestalling an unnecessary resort to force. The 1971 hot line agreement updated the 1963 accord by increasing the communications capability between the two governments. It called for the addition of two separate circuits of communications employing a U.S. and a Russian satellite system.