The World : East-West Talks End in Rift

A six-week-long meeting of the 35 nations that signed the Helsinki human rights agreement in 1975 ended in discord in Ottawa, Canada, when the East Bloc countries turned down a Western proposal to meet regularly. Western and neutral nations tried to persuade the East Bloc states to agree to regular meetings, but the Soviet Union refused, arguing that the conference had no mandate to make such a recommendation, Western delegates said. The meeting ended without a final statement.