Zhivkov maintained a strict and repressive Soviet-style regime at home, but he also tried, following the lead of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, to build better relations with the United States. In 1957, he gave an interview to "New York Times" correspondent Harrison Salisbury, his first interview to an American journalist, calling for immediate resumption of diplomatic relations with the United States. He also called for more trade, and educational and cultural exchanges. Missions were reopened in the two countries in 1959.