Soviets Offer Short-Range Missile Talks

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said today that the Kremlin is ready to discuss reducing short-range nuclear weapons in Europe as a means of speeding agreement on banning medium-range missiles from the Continent.

The Soviet leader told a rally in Prague that talks on weapons with ranges of 300 to 600 miles could run concurrently with U.S.-Soviet negotiations on medium-range missiles but would not be tied to them.

His announcement came three days before Secretary of State George P. Shultz’s arrival in Moscow for talks.

The State Department declined comment on the Gorbachev speech.

The United States and Soviet Union have been discussing ridding Europe of medium-range missiles, but the Western Allies are concerned about the numerical superiority that would remain in the Soviet Bloc’s short-range rockets and conventional forces.

“To secure an early accord on medium-range missiles in Europe, we suggest that discussions on the reduction and eventual elimination of missiles with a range of 500 to 1,000 kilometers (30807433327longer-range missiles,” Gorbachev said.

Moratorium on Expansion

“The sides could assume an obligation not to build up their shorter-range forces for the duration of the talks.”

His remarks departed from the earlier Soviet position, which called for talks on short-range rockets after agreement on medium-range missiles, which include Soviet SS-20s and the U.S.-built Pershing 2 and cruise missiles deployed by NATO.

He also proposed a ban on chemical weapons and said: “I can inform you that the Soviet Union has terminated the production of chemical weapons.”

Some Western analysts say there is evidence the Soviet Union has used chemical weapons in Afghanistan and in Southeast Asia.

Contrary to some speculation, Gorbachev did not announce the withdrawal of any of the estimated 80,000 Soviet troops that have been garrisoned in Czechoslovakia since the 1968 Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion that crushed the reform-minded regime of Alexander Dubcek.