Superpower Arms Aid to Nicaraguan Factions a 2-Way Issue, Moscow Says

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday that if the United States stopped sending arms to Nicaraguan rebels, there would be no reason for the Kremlin to supply military aid to the Sandinista government.

Gennady I. Gerasimov said that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and President Reagan discussed Central America during their summit last week in Washington.

He indicated that the Soviets would not stop arms shipments to the Nicaraguan government without a reciprocal commitment from the United States to stop helping the Contra rebels.

At the summit, Gorbachev “proposed the Soviet Union and the United States agree on a reciprocal basis to address the possibility of practically promoting peaceful settlement in Central America,” Gerasimov said.

He said that the Soviets have proposed treating the region as a whole and that the superpowers have a “mutual obligation not to provide arms to those countries.”

Gerasimov was asked at a government news briefing whether that meant that any cessation of Soviet arms supplies to Nicaragua was contingent on a halt to U.S. arms shipments to the Contras.

He replied: “We are providing arms to Nicaragua at the request of Nicaragua to protect the revolution in Nicaragua from the Contras who are being supported by the United States.

“If that support ceases, and if steps are taken to settle Central American conflicts peacefully, then there will be no need for such Soviet arms shipments.”

The Reagan Administration estimates that the Soviets provided Nicaragua with $475 million in military equipment during the first 10 months of this year.