U.S.-Soviet Military Sports Contests Proposed

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci and Soviet Defense Minister Dmitri T. Yazov on Wednesday discussed the possibility of sports competition between U.S. and Soviet military teams, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Carlucci and Yazov also talked about the possibility of U.S. and Soviet officers lecturing at each other’s war colleges, Dan Howard, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said.

He said the details of such military exchanges will be examined by Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Marshal Sergei F. Akhromeyev, chief of the Soviet general staff. No date for the Crowe-Akhromeyev meeting has been set.

Howard declined to be specific about any of the other items the two defense chiefs discussed on the second of their scheduled three days of meetings here.

He emphasized that this first formal exchange was intended to be “the beginning of a process” rather than a negotiating session aimed at new agreements.

“The tone has been very positive, cooperative and candid throughout,” Howard said. Although there were points of disagreement, he added, “we are pleased with the way the meetings are going.”

The agenda included military doctrine, arms control, regional issues such as Afghanistan and strictly military-to-military questions.

Doctrine was covered “at considerable length,” Howard said, as were defense budgeting processes. Military force levels on both sides, including the asymmetry, or imbalance between U.S. and Soviet military services, were also discussed.

On arms control, he said, they discussed the recently concluded treaty on intermediate-range nuclear missiles and current negotiations on long-range weapons, space defenses and chemical weapons.