On February 8, 1977, Carter stated he had wanted the Soviet Union to work with the United States in forming "a comprehensive ban to stop all nuclear testing" and that he was in support of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the RSD-10 Pioneer. During a June 13 conference, Carter reported that the United States would "beginning this week to work closely with the Soviet Union" and would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union beginning the following week. At a news conference on December 30, Carter said that the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues. The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty led to the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II by Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on June 18, 1979.