On 16 December 1981, Philip John Weston, Head of the Defence Department in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), sends a note to David Gillmore, Assistant Under-Secretary of State, regarding discussions with French diplomats about Western European defence issues. The note outlines the concerns expressed by Jacques Laureau, Deputy Director in the Strategic Affairs and Pacts Department of the French Foreign Ministry, about the long-term dangers of the ‘zero option’ negotiations and the compatibility of the negotiating approaches employed concerning the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).