Soviets Block Gains in Arms Talks, U.S. Says

U.S. arms control director Kenneth L. Adelman, contradicting Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, said today that the United States discussed “Star Wars” extensively with Soviet negotiators at the recently recessed talks in Geneva.

Adelman accused the Soviets of blocking progress in the first round of negotiations, which ended Tuesday. “It was a very tough round,” he said.

Gorbachev said Tuesday in Moscow that the U.S. negotiators had violated the accord that set up the talks by not linking discussion of space-based weapons with medium-range and strategic nuclear missiles.

The Soviet leader also said the United States had shown in the first round that it was not interested in an agreement.

Adelman disagreed. “The U.S. came in with greater flexibility and dogged determination to move the arms control process along,” he said. “The Soviets came into the first round with greater rigidity and dogged determination to have SDI (the Strategic Defense Initiative) block progress.”