Appeal To The Governments and People of The USSR and The USA:

The USSR and the USA have the means to kill in such proportions that would end the history of mankind.

A balance of terror cannot be a reliable guarantee of safety in the world. Only trust between peoples can create a firm assurance of the future.

Today, when elementary trust between the two nations has been completely lost, the problem of trust has ceased to be simply a question of bilateral relations. This is the question: Will mankind be wiped out by its own destructive capabilities or will it survive?

This problem demands immediate action today. It is, however, very obvious that political leaders of both sides are incapable of coming to any sort of agreement about significant arms limitations in the near future . … to say nothing of genuine disarmament.

Due to their political interests and circumstances, politicians find it difficult to be objective on disarmament issues

 Recognizing this, we do not wish to accuse one side or the other of not wishing to promote the peace process, nor certainly of any aggressive designs for the future. We are convinced of their genuine desire for peace and curtailment of the nuclear threat. However, the search for the path to disarmament has become difficult.

We all share an equal responsibility for the future. The active peace movement among citizens of many countries proves that this is understood by millions of people.

But our common desire for peace must not be blind It must be perceived and expressed in concrete terms. It must be presented in the context of actual conditions.

The world is concerned about its future. Everyone understands that there must be dialogue if the threat is to be removed.

The prevailing principles of conducting bilateral dialogue must be changed immediately.

We are convinced that the time has come for the public not only to confront decision makers with the issue of disarmament, but to participate in the decision making process with the politicians.

We are in favor of quatrapartite dialogue – for dialogue in which average Soviet and American citizens are included on an equal footing with political figures.

We favor consistent and, ultimately complete destruction of stockpiles of. nuclear weapons and other forms of mass destruction, and for limitations of conventional weapons.

We view the present program for the search for peace as the following:

1. As a first step to abolish the nuclear threat, we appeal to everyone who does not desire the death of his neighbor to submit his own specific proposals on bilateral limitations and cutbacks of weaponry, and, most of all, for the establishment of trust. We call for each such proposal to be forwarded simultaneously to the governments of both countries and to representatives of independent public peace groups.

We hope espeially that our call will be heeded by the peoples of the Soviet Union and the United States, whose governments bear the main responsibility for maintaining the safety of the world.

2. We call upon the citizens of both countries to create combined international public groups, based on the principles of independence. Their functions would include: the receipt and analysis of individual proposals on disarmament and promoting trust between nations: the selection of the most interesting and realistic proposals: bringing these proposals to the attention of the respective populations about the possible consequences of the use of nuclear arms, and about all issues concerning disarmament.

3. We appeal to the scientific community, particularly to independent international scientific organizations involved in the campaign for peace, to work on scientific problems directly connected with the preservation of peace. For instance, at the present stage, it is extremely important to develop a unified mathematical method for evaluating the weaponry of the opposing sides. We call upon scientists to create independent research groups to scientifically analyze citizen proposals.

4. We call upon political leaders and the media of both countries to refrain from mutual accustions about intentions to use nuclear weapons for aggressive purposes. We are convinced that such accusations only inflame distrust between the sides and thus make any constructive dialogue impossible.

5. We view as necessary guarantees of the establishment of trust that the USSR and the USA must create conditions for the open exchange of opinions and to inform the publics of both nations on all issues on the process of disarmament.

We appeal to the governments of the USSR and the USA to create a special international bulletin (with a governmental guarnatees of distribution in both countries), in which both sides would conduct a dialogue, hold discussions, and would make public reports on the following issues, among others:

a. An analysis of disarmament negotiations and the documents of the negotiations

b. An exchange of opinions and proposals on possible ways to limit arms, and on disarmament

c. An exchange of proposals on the establishment of trust

d. An exchange of information on the possible consequences of using nuclear arms.

Such a bulletin would provide an opportunity for independent citizens’ peace groups to participate in general discussions, publish uncensored materials, especially proposals on disarmament and trust and information on (various) peace movements and the steps they have taken.

We appeal to the governments and public opinion of the USSR and the USA since we are convinced that everyone who understands that the future needs to be defended must have a genuine opportunity to defend it!

Moscow; June 4, 1982

Batovrin, Sergei
Blok, V.R.
Fleishgakker, Maria I.
Khronopulo, Yu. G.
Fleishgakker, V.N.
Rozenoer, S.A.
Sobkov, I.N.
Ostrovskaya, L.A.
Krochik, G.M.
Kalyuzhny, B.I.

(and seventy-four signatures in support)
(the appeal is open for signatures.)