THE VENICE SUMMIT : NATO Seeking to Return France to Its Nuclear Fold

The foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, already in agreement on the “zero-zero” plan to remove short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe, on Thursday began the potentially delicate task of trying to bring France back into allied consultations on arms control.

A senior State Department official said Secretary of State George P. Shultz reached agreement in principle with French officials to reverse former President Charles de Gaulle’s decision to keep France aloof from cooperation on nuclear arms control policy within NATO.

But the official said the agreement has not yet been approved by higher authorities in Washington and Paris. And the plan has not yet obtained the full backing of other members of the alliance. The official declined to discuss details.

Pulled Out in 1966

France withdrew from NATO’s unified military structure in 1966, deciding to rely instead on its own independent nuclear deterrent, the so-called force de frappe. The Paris government took no part in the NATO consultations that preceded the strategic arms limitation treaties of 1972 and 1979 or the alliance talks on deployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces in Europe.

But with the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in what could prove to be the most far-reaching arms control talks of the nuclear age, France apparently has concluded that it can no longer afford to ignore the procedure.

“Perhaps they just feel that with the change in agenda, they would like to be in on it,” the senior official said.

Asked why the United States would welcome back the French, who in the past have often proved to be prickly negotiating partners, the official said, “For us, it probably pays off, too.”

However, talk about returning France to alliance consultations on nuclear arms control takes place against the background of a long-running Washington-Paris dispute over conventional arms control talks.

Another Contention Point

NATO agreed a year ago to suggest expansion of the moribund mutual and balanced force reduction talks, which have dragged on in Vienna for 17 years without much progress. But the United States wants the talks to include only nations with substantial conventional military capability, while France wants to include every country in Europe, including tiny Malta and the Vatican.

U.S. officials believe that such a conference could never reach the sort of consensus that would be required for agreement. Officials said the foreign ministers were unable to break the deadlock at this meeting.

The NATO foreign ministers began their two-day spring meeting Thursday with a consensus already hammered out on allied strategy for U.S.-Soviet negotiations on eliminating from Europe all nuclear missiles with a range of more than 300 miles.

“There is no problem on language regarding consensus on the double zero,” the State Department official said. The references to “double zero” and “zero-zero” apply to removal of medium-range missiles capable of reaching targets 1,000 to 3,000 miles away and also shorter-range missiles with a range of 300 to 1,000 miles.

Although much hard bargaining with the Soviets remains, the allied agreement removes one potential obstacle to a treaty that both President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev have endorsed in principle.