SALT Violation Will Hurt Talks, Kremlin Asserts

The Soviet Union on Thursday warned that the U.S.-Soviet arms talks will be damaged by Washington’s decision to ignore SALT II treaty limits and deploy a 131st B-52 bomber equipped with cruise missiles.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris D. Pyadyshev said the Defense Ministry is considering steps to take to counter the U.S. deployment, scheduled for today.

“The refusal of the U.S. Administration to abide by the SALT II treaty will inevitably influence most negatively the atmosphere in which Soviet-American contacts take place in the context of arms reduction,” Pyadyshev told Western and Soviet reporters during a routine briefing.

“This step taken by Washington will inevitably exert an influence on what goes on at the negotiating table in Geneva,” he said.

President’s Announcement

President Reagan announced last May that he would allow U.S. strategic forces to exceed the limits set in the 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty, which was signed but never ratified by Congress. The Soviets at that time said they would no longer consider themselves bound by the treaty and would take whatever steps necessary to maintain the military-strategic balance.

Pyadyshev said the Soviet Defense Ministry is “thinking about” what concrete steps to take “in practical terms” to counter today’s U.S. deployment of another cruise missile-equipped B-52--the 131st.

“If SALT II is violated . . . nothing fatal will happen for our security and there is no reason for us to hurry up with any action,” he said.

“The military strategic balance between the United States and the Soviet Union will not be undermined. We will not allow this to happen. We will have to take the necessary steps in answer to the American measure.”