The main purpose of the article is to analyze the nuclear non-proliferation policy of the United States governments of Richard Nixon and Jerald Ford, and its influence on the leading countries of Western Europe in 1969-1975. This research is based on the published documents in the collection "Foreign Relations of the United States", electronic archives of the National Security Archive and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (both in the Washington DC), debates in the UK parliament and Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). At the beginning of the article, the author has described the main steps of the American diplomacy in the field of nuclear control, especially in relations to the countries of Western Europe. The paper briefly examines the transformation of U.S. nuclear policy from the Acheson - Lilienthal Report of 1946 till the conclusion of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NTP) in 1968. Then, the article analyzes the activities of the governments of France, Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. The paper traces diplomatic contacts between the leading countries of Western Europe and the United States on the issue of signing and ratifying the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The author has paid special attention to relationships between Bonn and Washington. West Germany, with her significant position in NATO and huge strategic, economic and political potential, was one of the main targets of the U.S. non-proliferation policy. The article considers the problem of the NTP ratification by Italy and Germany. The internal disputes in the political circles of the FRG on signing and ratifying the NPT ate analyzed. The author also has attracted attention to the problem of the implementation of the NPT by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. The main conclusions of the article are the following. First, Chancellor W. Brandt by promoting ratification of the NPT has achieved success in his New Eastern Policy. Second, despite the limitation of nuclear potential of NATO, the non-proliferation policy contributed to integration of the countries of Western Europe. Third, German participation in the NPT was influenced by the actions of Paris and London. British diplomats motivated the West German leadership for the early signing of the NPT. By contrast, Paris disagreed with US non-proliferation policy. French position could stimulate an alternative approach to the nuclear non-proliferation in the FRG.
