[5] The Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives voted 154 to 75 to cut off U.S. funds for the war in Vietnam once all U.S. forces were withdrawn and U.S.

[10] In Beijing, Chinese leader Zhou Enlai told North Vietnam's peace negotiator, Lê Đức Thọ, that "the U.S. effort to exert pressure through bombing has failed."

"[15] Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, Mitchell Sharp, said he found it difficult to understand the reason for the U.S. Christmas bombing and that "we deplore the action.

[6]: 155 An attempt by two FANK battalions to relieve the besieged town of Tram Khnar was repulsed with heavy losses reported.

[16] As U.S. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger prepared to resume peace talks with North Vietnam in Paris, Nixon told him that "almost any settlement would be tolerable."

Nixon expressed willingness to accept the draft agreement of October 1972 with a few cosmetic changes to make it appear the U.S. had gained something in the negotiations.

[19]: 433 Kissinger and Le Duc Tho in Paris achieved a "breakthrough" in the peace talks with the main obstacle remaining the opposition of the South Vietnamese government to the agreement.

[6]: 161 The Governor General of Australia Paul Hasluck proclaimed the cessation of hostilities in South Vietnam by Australian forces.

[22]: 2 Thiệu responded to Nixon's letter with a long list of objections to the draft peace agreement, most importantly the fact that the withdrawal of all PAVN forces from South Vietnam was not required.

[6]: 167–70 Operation Phou Phiang III was the final offensive of the Royal Lao Army (RLA) in the Laotian Civil War.

The RLA attacked PAVN positions on the Plain of Jars but failed to evict them before the ceasefire mandated by the Vientiane Treaty came into effect on 21 February.

[22]: 4 [24]: 38 PAVN rockets damaged two United States Marine Corps (USMC) F-4s as they rearmed at Da Nang Air Base.

[22]: 36 The ceasefire was observed in some areas, but South Vietnamese troops still fought to regain control of villages captured by PAVN/VC forces the day before.

[22]: 3 Lieutenant Colonel William B. Nolde was killed near An Lộc, the last American soldier to die prior to the ceasefire envisioned in the Paris Peace Accords.

[25][24]: 32 United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced that the draft of young American men into military service would be ended.

Despite the ceasefire coming into effect, given its strategic location the ARVN 2nd Division launched a series of counterattacks, forcing the PAVN out of Sa Huỳnh by 16 February 1973.

"The Vietnamese revolution has achieved several important gains, but the struggle of our people must continue to consolidate those victories [to] build a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic, and strong Vietnam."

The U.S. had promised $3.25 billion in aid to North Vietnam in exchange for cooperation in determining the fate of missing and unaccounted for Americans.

[6]: 181 The Khmer Rouge cut the highway link between the capital Phnom Penh and the country's only deep-water port, Kompong Som.

[26]: 287 With the Khmer Rouge closing in on Phnom Penh, the United States resumed bombing of North Vietnamese military bases and supply routes (the Ho Chi Minh Trail) in Cambodia.

The first alternative and the implementation of the Paris Peace Accords was preferred to protect areas in South Vietnam controlled by communist forces and to forestall the return of the U.S. to active participation in the war.

The strategy would be "revolutionary struggle" to destabilize South Vietnam, with the possibility of avoiding a full scale resumption of the war.

[34] A disgruntled pro-Sihanouk Khmer Air Force (KAF) pilot flying a T-28D fighter-bomber attacked the Presidential Palace in Phnom Penh killing 43 people and injuring a further 35.

One helicopter managed to land safely while the other was hit by an SA-7 missile killing all nine onboard including two Hungarian, one Canadian and one Indonesian ICCS observers.

[30]: 36 The USAF began Giant Scale SR-71 reconnaissance missions along the periphery of North Vietnam, these continued on an average of once a week throughout 1973.

[40] The charges against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo for leaking the Pentagon Papers were dismissed due to "improper Government conduct.

[30]: 47–53 The U.S. and North Vietnam issued a joint communique calling on all parties to observe the 28 January ceasefire agreement with effect from 15 June.

[42][30]: 50 The Case–Church Amendment approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law prohibited further U.S. military activity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after 15 August 1973.

However, the Politburo decided that all-out war was not feasible and that North Vietnam would continue to express adherence to the Paris Peace Accords.

1541–1548) providing that the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if the United States is already under attack or serious threat.