The World - News from Dec. 3, 1987

NATO ministers, at the close of a two-day meeting in Brussels, agreed that Western Europe must contribute more to upgrading allied defenses because Washington cannot be expected to maintain its current share of the spending burden. The defense ministers, representing all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization except France and Iceland, also reaffirmed their support for the impending U.S.-Soviet treaty eliminating ground-launched, mid-range nuclear missiles. U.S. Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci said that congressional budget-cutting efforts will make it difficult for Washington to maintain its current level of spending on NATO defenses.