THE REYKJAVIK SUMMIT : Gorbachev Excerpts: ‘Specter of Quest for Military Superiority’

Here are excerpts from the statement by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at his news conference Sunday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as published by the English - language service of the official news agency Tass :

On the summit meeting:

The atmosphere at the meeting was friendly. We had an opportunity to set forth freely and without any restrictions our views on various problems, and this made it possible for us to deepen our understanding of many major issues of world politics, bilateral relations and, above all, the burning problems which are now in the focus of attention of the entire world public.

On Soviet policy since the Geneva summit last November:

The Soviet leadership remains loyal to the commitments it assumed in Geneva. We extended our (unilateral) moratorium on any nuclear explosions. The Soviet Union put forward a program for the elimination of nuclear weapons by the end of the current century. Silence reigns at our nuclear test ranges for 14 months now. This is evidence of our allegiance to the accords reached in Geneva and of our responsibility for the destinies of peace, for all these are no easy decisions, considering the fact that blasts have continued all this time in Nevada.

On proposals made to President Reagan:

I suggested that the President and I, right here in Reykjavik, give binding instructions to our ministers or other corresponding departments to draft three agreements that could be signed later during my visit to the United States.

One of them is on strategic armaments. We put forward a proposal for cutting them by 50%, and not less, so that these most deadly weapons be abolished by the turn of the century.

I proposed to the U.S. President to give up all options discussed so far--interim, provisional, etc.--and to go back to the American proposal--to destroy completely the U.S. and Soviet medium-range missiles in Europe.

All realistic forces in the world should act now. We all, living in the socialist world, in the capitalist world and in the developing world, have a unique chance for starting real work to end the arms race, ban nuclear weapons, eliminate them and divert the nuclear threat from mankind. In this connection, we put forward the following proposal to the President--to start full-scale talks on banning nuclear explosions immediately after our meeting in Reykjavik.

On failure to reach agreement:

We were on the verge of taking major, history-making decisions. Since the American Administration, as we understand now, is out to make a breakthrough via SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) to military superiority, it even went so far as to bury the accords on which we already reached agreement. All that remained was to sign them and give instructions to draw up the treaties.

On chances for a new summit:

We need a resultative meeting. It should really lead to tangible results and drastic changes and steps, and especially on such a burning issue as nuclear arms control, the termination of the arms race and the elimination of nuclear weapons. . . .

When I came for the Reykjavik meeting, I said that it was time to act. These words have indeed turned out to be prophetic. Indeed, the time to act has come, and we will act. We will not give up our policy of peace, of struggle against the arms race, for a ban on and elimination of nuclear weapons, for averting the nuclear threat from the world. I think that we will not be alone in that struggle.

On the stand of the U.S. delegation:

We have felt at this meeting a shortage of new thinking. And yet again this specter of quest for military superiority has appeared. And, nonetheless, all that has taken place, that package of proposals which we have tabled, the long road we have traveled toward big nuclear arms cuts--all this is an enormous experience that we have gained here in Reykjavik. I think that both the President and we should think over the entire situation which has finally taken shape at the meeting and go back to it once again, try and surmount what is separating us. For we have already reached agreement on many things, we have gone through so much. Possibly, the President has to consult the Congress, the political quarters, the American public. Let America think it over. We will wait without removing our proposals.

In the final analysis, it was an interesting, important and promising meeting. Thus far, it has ended that way, but let us not despair. This meeting has brought us to a very important stage of understanding where we are, and it has demonstrated that accords are possible. I’m confident that this is so.

On ending nuclear tests:

We tabled the proposal that an agreement be reached that right after our meeting in Reykjavik we sit down at the table of negotiations on a total ban on nuclear testing. We could have examined the question of thresholds, the yield of nuclear explosions and the number of nuclear explosions, and would have advanced towards drawing up a full-scale treaty on a total ban on nuclear testing. We were even close to finding a formula on that issue.

We were drawing closer, but when we diverged on the ABM, the discussion was broken, the search was disrupted, and we ended our discussion. We, the Americans, and world public opinion should now give thought to the main question, that of war and peace, the question of nuclear threat.