In the sphere of foreign policy, the beginning of the 70s. It was marked by a radical turn towards real “relaxation” of tension between the East and the West. It was caused by the stabilization of the mutual relations of the Soviet Union with the socialist countries (previously a priority in the foreign policy of the USSR) and outlined in the late 60s. changes in the position of Western European states interested in the development of economic cooperation.

In 1966, France withdrew from the military structures of NATO, and in the same year, French President Charles de Gaulle visited the USSR under the slogan of deepening Soviet-French ties. The French president said: "France intends to develop cooperation with the USSR, in particular, in the political field very deeply." Soviet-French summits in the 70s. they became a constant phenomenon: they occurred in 1970, 1971, twice in 1973 and twice in 1974.

French presidents J. Pompidou, J. d'Eesten visited the Soviet Union; France - L.I. Brezhnev, A.N. Kosygin and other responsible persons. As a result, a number of agreements were signed in the field of nuclear energy, space and communications (color television system SECAM 1965). Even earlier, strong economic ties were established between the USSR and Italy, which resulted in the construction by the Fiat company of a car factory in the USSR in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny (1966). The Soviet Union supplied Italy with oil and gas, enriched uranium, in turn, large diameter pipes were supplied to the USSR.

The victory in the 1969 election in the FRG coalition of social democrats and free democrats led to an improvement in Soviet-German relations. On August 12, 1970, the Treaty on the Settlement of Territorial Issues was signed in Moscow between the USSR and the FRG, recognizing the borders of all states in Europe, including the western border of Poland along the Oder-Neisse and the border between the GDR and the FRG. In 1970-1973

The W. Brandt government wrote similar agreements with Poland, the GDR and Czechoslovakia. On September 3, 1971, a quadripartite agreement was signed between the USSR, the USA, the United Kingdom and France over West Berlin. The German question, which for a long time was the most acute in relations between the East and the West, was largely resolved.

The outcome of the peace process in Europe was the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) July 3 - August 1, 1975. Representatives of 33 European countries, as well as the USA and Canada, were present in Helsinki. The following persons took part in the Meeting: Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the CPSU L.I. Brezhnev, President of the USA J. Ford, President of France V. Giscard d'Estaing, Prime Minister of Great Britain G. Wilson, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany G. Schmidt, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party Terek; General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, President of Czechoslovakia G. GuSak, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, E. Honecker; the first secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP, the chairman of the State Council of the NRB, T. Zhivkov, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the HSWP, J. Kadar; Secretary General of the PSC, Romanian President N. Ceausescu; the Chairman of the UCC, the President of Yugoslavia I. Broz Tito and other leaders of the participating States.

 The Declaration adopted by the CSCE proclaimed the inviolability of the European borders, the mutual refusal to use force, the peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference in the internal affairs of the participating countries, respect for human rights, etc.

Against the background of the rapprochement of the positions of the USSR and the Western European powers in the 70s. there is an improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States, which later made it possible to call the 1970s. period of defusing tension. To a certain extent, this was caused by the existing nuclear parity of the two superpowers. The beginning of detente was laid by the visit of US President R. Nixon to Moscow in May 1972.

During the meeting of the American President with Leonid Brezhnev, an agreement was reached on some measures in the field of limiting strategic offensive arms (SALT-1). Both parties to the treaty recognized that in the "nuclear age there is no other basis for maintaining relations between them, except for peaceful coexistence." In Moscow, the indefinite agreement on missile defense (ABM) was concluded, according to which the parties committed themselves to be armed with no more than 200 anti-missile missiles and two home areas, including the capital. In June 1973, Leonid Brezhnev returned a visit to the United States, where the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War was signed.

During the Washington meeting, about twenty cooperation agreements were concluded in various areas, including the Soyuz-Apollo joint space program (implemented in 1975). During the summer meeting of 1974 in Crimea, R. Nixon and L. I. Brezhnev agreed to limit underground tests, reduce the number of missile defense systems, and also halve missile defense systems, leaving them only around capitals. Despite the forced departure of Nixon in August 1974, the summits had continued several months later, when in November 1974 the new US President, J. Ford and L. I. Brezhnev met in Vladivostok. The previous agreements were confirmed, and further restrictions on nuclear assets were announced.

The subsequent outburst of the United States on a new type of artillery (cruise missiles) and the erroneous decision of the Soviet Union to place RSD-10 (SS-20 according to the NATO classification) missiles in the European part of the USSR in 1977 prevented deeper discharge in the subsequent period. a serious miscalculation of the Soviet leadership, which led to the aggravation of relations with the countries of Western Europe. In 1979, an agreement was reached on the signing of the new SALT-2 treaty, but the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan led to the disruption of the ratification process, to a new round of tensions between the USSR and the USA