On 12 December 1979, NATO reacted to the placement of Soviet medium-range missiles armed with nuclear warheads and aimed at Western Europe by both threatening to use its own latest-generation missiles and offering to sign an agreement for both sides to destroy all weapons of this kind. Since the Soviet leadership was unable either to relinquish its missiles or to enter into a technological race with NATO, this so-called NATO's double-track decision marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union's superpower status.