Soviet Union Table of Contents
An important component of Soviet foreign relations was Soviet state and party delegation visits to states with which the Soviet Union enjoyed diplomatic relations. These visits served to improve relations with Western states by influencing elite and popular attitudes. The visits also helped cement and sustain close ties with communist states, states with a socialist orientation, and nonaligned nations. Common actions were often discussed with such states, for example, coordinated voting on United Nations (UN) resolutions. Economic, scientific, cultural, and other cooperation agreements were also signed during these visits, although such agreements were more commonly signed during visits by Third World delegations to Moscow. These visits usually concluded with the publication of joint communiqués that might reveal details of the nature of the visit and also list points of agreement on issues such as the prevention of nuclear war, nuclear-free zones, peaceful coexistence, and anti-imperialism.
Data as of May 1989