Soviets Ready for Afghan Talks, Canadians Told
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said that arms control will top the agenda of next week’s superpower meeting in Iceland but that the Kremlin is also ready to discuss its military intervention in Afghanistan.
Shevardnadze made the comment in a banquet toast to Canadian External Affairs Minister Joe Clark at a state dinner Wednesday night in Ottawa, marking his first official visit to Canada.
Shevardnadze met with Clark again Thursday and with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. He is scheduled to visit Mexico and Cuba after leaving Canada.
“I can assure you that the Soviet Union, more than anyone else, has an interest in the resolution of that problem,” Shevardnadze said of the Afghan issue.
The Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan in December, 1979.
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