After the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the international atmosphere changed dramatically, once again acquiring the features of confrontation. Under these conditions, a supporter of a tough approach to the USSR R. Reagan, who called the Soviet Union an "evil empire," won the presidential election in the United States.

The United States began to develop plans for a strategic defense initiative (SDI), which envisages the creation of a nuclear shield in space, which was figuratively called the plans of "space wars." The United States Defense Directives for the years 1984-1988 said: "It is necessary to direct military rivalry with the USSR to new areas and thereby make all previous Soviet defense spending senseless and make all Soviet weapons obsolete."

The Soviet Union will annually be forced to spend about 10 billion rubles on space programs (72% of military programs). In the USSR, it also became known about the decision at the December (1979) session of the NATO Council (two weeks before troops entered Afghanistan) the decision to deploy new American medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe from November 1983.

Under these conditions, the USSR placed medium-range rockets in Czechoslovakia and the GDR, which were able to reach European capitals in a matter of minutes. In response, NATO began to deploy a network of medium-range American missiles in Europe, as well as cruise missiles.

In a short period, Europe was oversaturated with nuclear weapons. In an effort to prevent further escalation of tension, Yu. V. Andropov made concessions, proposing to reduce the number of Soviet missiles in the European part of the USSR to the level of French and British nuclear weapons, moving the remaining missiles to the Urals.

Agreeing with the objections about increasing tension in Asia, as a result of the movement of Soviet missiles brought out of Europe there, the Soviet leadership declared its readiness to dismantle surplus missiles. At the same time, Andropov set about resolving the Afghan issue, engaging the Pakistani side in the negotiation process.

Reducing tensions on the Afghan-Pakistan border would allow the Soviet Union to reduce the contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and begin the withdrawal of troops.

The incident with the South Korean passenger aircraft shot down over the territory of the USSR on September 1, 1983 led to the curtailment of the negotiation process. The Soviet side, which had denied for some time the fact of the destruction of the airliner (obviously led by the intelligence services of the United States over the military facilities of the USSR), in the eyes of the world community was found guilty in the incident that killed 250 passengers. Negotiations were interrupted.