Soviets to Obey SALT, Hit U.S. ‘Big Mistake’

The Soviet Union said today that it will abide by SALT II limits on strategic nuclear arms despite the Reagan Administration’s “big mistake” in deciding to abandon the unratified treaty.

“Taking into account the immense universal importance of the issue and the need to preserve the key constraint on the strategic arms race, the U.S.S.R. refrains for the time being from abandoning the limitations under SALT I and SALT II,” the official press agency Tass said.

The United States deployed its 131st B-52 bomber capable of carrying cruise missiles last week, exceeding the limits agreed to under the SALT II treaty in 1979.

The treaty was signed by President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev but was never ratified by the Senate.

“The United States’ breakout from the SALT II treaty . . . fully lays bare the militarist essence of the U.S. policy for the whole world to see,” the Tass statement said.

It described as “significant” that the decision to exceed the sub-limit in the treaty on the number of various types of weapon launchers came only a few weeks after the October summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“The U.S. step is a logical element of the campaign of malicious attacks against the historic opportunities which the Reykjavik meeting offered and which would open up the road to a nuclear-free world,” Tass said.

“Washington is making a big mistake. The exceeding of the limits set by the SALT II treaty will not strengthen U.S. security,” Tass said.

Saying the Soviets had already broken treaty limits, Reagan announced May 27 that he would allow the nation to exceed the numerical limits of the 1979 accord. Moscow had warned that it would feel free to exceed the limits as well.

Today’s statement said the Soviet Union still hopes that the Reagan Administration would have second thoughts.