Gerald Ford

“ In my judgement, the United States and the open countries of the West already practice what the Helsinki accords preach, and have no intention of doing what they prohibit such as using force or restricting freedoms.
We are not committing ourselves to anything beyond what we are already committed to by our own moral and legal standards and by more formal treaty agreements such as the United Nations charter and declaration of human rights. ”

“ Surely this is the best interest of the United States and of peace in the world.
I think we are all agreed that our world cannot be changed for the better by war; that in the thermonuclear age our primary task is to reduce the danger of unprecedented destruction. This we are doing through continuing strategic arms limitations talks with the Soviet Union and the talks on mutual and balanced force reductions in Europe. ”

“ The Helsinki summit is linked with our overall policy of working to reduce East-West tensions and pursuing peace, but it is a much more general and modest undertaking.
Its success or failure depends not alone on the United States and the Soviet Union but primarily upon its 33 European signatories, East, West and neutral. The fact that each of them, large and small, can have their voices heard is itself a good sign. ”