Soviets Offer New Plan on A-Weapons : U.S. Says Proposal for Europe Has No ‘New Approaches’

Soviet negotiators at the stalled U.S.-Soviet arms talks in Geneva presented a new draft proposal today for eliminating medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe, but the White House said it contained no “new, startling approaches.”

“It appears at first glance to be a more formal codification of previous Soviet statements, but we will certainly analyze the proposal to see whether this constitutes constructive movement toward seeking common ground,” presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said.

“We hope this would indicate that the Soviets are becoming serious” about the talks, Speakes said.

Not Announced in Moscow

It apparently was the first time the Soviets have made a major proposal at the 14-month-old talks without first announcing it in Moscow.

Sources at the Geneva talks said the proposal maintained Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s previous demand that the United States stop all delivery of new nuclear weapons to Britain or any other Western ally.

That demand has been repeatedly rejected by Washington on grounds that it will never break existing agreements with its allies.

Not mentioned in the Soviet text was Gorbachev’s insistence that Britain and France freeze their nuclear arsenals and forgo any modernization as part of an accord on medium-range arms, the sources said.

But Soviet negotiators in later discussions made it clear that Moscow maintains that condition as well, they said.

U.S. delegates have repeatedly explained that they cannot negotiate for American allies and Moscow must talk directly with the British and French.

Bid Rejected Last Year

Gorbachev last year proposed eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, but Washington rejected the bid mainly because the proposals excluded Moscow’s triple-warhead SS-20 missiles in the Asian region.

The new draft treaty was proposed during a special session of all three principal negotiators from both superpowers and their aides, a U.S. source in Geneva said. He said the meeting was requested at short notice.

Gorbachev announced a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2000 at the beginning of the last round of talks earlier this year. He said the first stage would include an agreement on reducing medium-range weapons in Europe.

President Reagan and Gorbachev agreed at their Geneva summit last November to seek cuts of up to 50% in nuclear arms with an interim accord on intermediate nuclear forces, or medium-range systems.