U.S. Rejects Soviet Arms Proposal, Calls It Bid to Cripple ‘Star Wars’

GENEVA — The United States rejected a new Soviet arms proposal on Friday, saying it was aimed at crippling the U.S. “Star Wars” anti-missile space defense project.

U.S. arms delegation spokesman Terry Shroeder said the Soviet offer, made earlier in the day, was a “renewed attempt to achieve positions that we previously rejected.”

He said the U.S. arms delegation hoped “the Soviets will take a more realistic approach” to the ninth round of superpower arms talks that opened Thursday.

Alexei A. Obukhov, leader of the Soviet delegation, outlined the new offer during a special negotiating session with the Americans at the Soviet diplomatic mission. He told a news conference later that he had put forward a new draft protocol for a treaty to cut superpower intercontinental nuclear arsenals by 50%.

President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev have agreed in principle to such reductions, limiting each side to 6,000 nuclear warheads and 1,600 launchers. But Gorbachev has linked such cuts to curbs on President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) project, commonly known as “Star Wars.”

Obukhov said the draft protocol called for “compliance and non-withdrawal” for a specific period from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. That treaty limits anti-missile defense systems but each side may withdraw on six months’ notice. Obukhov indicated that Moscow wanted the United States to agree to abide by the pact for a 10-year period.

The commitment to the ABM treaty sought by the Soviet Union would ensure that no American anti-missile defense systems were deployed in space for 10 years.

Shroeder said the proposal “calls for restrictions beyond those in the ABM Treaty,” adding the United States had already rejected adding a protocol on space and defense issues to a strategic arms treaty.

He said it was agreed at the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Washington last month that the superpowers would negotiate a separate treaty on space and defense issues.

Shroeder repeated the Reagan Administration’s view that introducing anti-missile defense systems would contribute to stability between the superpowers. Gorbachev has strongly rejected this position, saying the SDI project would upset the strategic balance and lead to an arms race in space.