Kohl to Meet Reagan Amid NATO Arms Discord
Chancellor Helmut Kohl, seeking to promote West Germany’s disarmament policies amid growing discord with its NATO allies, will hold talks with President Reagan in Washington next month, his office said on Tuesday.
Kohl will use his Washington visit Feb. 17-19, two weeks ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, to urge swift ratification by the U.S. Senate of the intermediate nuclear forces (INF) treaty signed by Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev last month.
A statement by Kohl’s office said he “will lay special emphasis on presenting the German interests in the process of disarmament and arms control and in the development of East-West relations ahead of the NATO summit in March and the fourth summit between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev.”
As Moscow and Washington move toward agreement on halving their intercontinental nuclear missile arsenals following the INF treaty, Bonn wants NATO to address nuclear battlefield weapons as its next top arms control priority.
Battlefield or short-range missiles with a range of up to 300 miles are seen in Bonn as a particular threat to West Germany.
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