SALT II Talks End; Soviets Reject U.S. Plan for Restraints

Special superpower talks on SALT II ended today after the Soviets rejected a U.S. proposal to observe temporary restraints pending a new accord to reduce strategic weapons, a U.S. statement said.

A Soviet statement said the U.S. side was alerted during the meeting “to the extremely dangerous consequences of the refusal by the United States to observe” SALT II and its predecessor, SALT I.

President Reagan announced May 27 that the United States will not be bound by the unratified 1979 SALT treaty by the end of the year because of alleged Soviet violations.

A U.S. communique issued today said the Soviet Union rejected Reagan’s call to “join the United States in establishing an interim framework of truly mutual restraint pending conclusion of a verifiable agreement on deep and equitable reduction in offensive nuclear arms.”