but through it all, the alliance held firm. and i invite those who protested then -- i invite those who protest today -- to mark this fact: because we remained strong, the soviets came back to the table. because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.
as i speak, nato ministers are meeting in iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons. at the talks in geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons. and the western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.
while we pursue these arms reductions, i pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur. and in cooperation with many of our allies, the united states is pursuing the strategic defense initiative -- research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend; on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them. by these means we seek to increase the safety of europe and all the world. but we must remember a crucial fact: east and west do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other