Reagan Says Arms Pact a Matter of When, Not if

President Reagan welcomed West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to the White House today and said he has no doubt an arms reduction agreement with the Soviet Union will be reached.

During a welcoming ceremony on the White House South Lawn, Reagan said, “When the next agreement is finally reached with the Soviet Union--and I say when, not if--it will not be the result of timidity on the part of Western nations.”

Reagan said he looked forward to discussing the results of the Iceland summit and subsequent events with Kohl. He said Kohl had come at an opportune time.

“There is ample reason for optimism,” Reagan declared in reference to his talks in Reykjavik with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. “Whatever progress is made will be based on the solid foundation” of close cooperation in the Atlantic Alliance.

At the start of a meeting in the Oval Office, Reagan was asked his reasons for optimism. “I’m just going to tell him what we did in Reykjavik,” he replied.

Kohl added, “We’re both optimistic.”

“It should not escape anyone that the Soviet Union and the United States are now seriously talking about reducing offensive weapons,” Reagan said. “This is a giant step from a time not so long ago when arms negotiators merely put a cap on weapons at high levels, permitting the building of more missiles and more warheads.”

Kohl was received with full military honors as he arrived for his seventh meeting with Reagan since his election more than four years ago.

With Reagan standing at his side, Kohl said the goal of the two countries is to create peace and security with fewer weapons.

He said the Iceland summit showed that the Soviet Union, like the United States, is interested in improving relations between West and East.

“And we should take the Soviet Union at its word and sound them out at the negotiating table, where real progress can be made,” Kohl said.

Before his arrival, Kohl said he intended to encourage Reagan to continue efforts to achieve a nuclear arms reduction agreement.

But Kohl has said he would oppose any agreement that left Western Europe vulnerable to attack by powerful Soviet Bloc conventional forces.