Soviets Renew Call for Nuclear Test Ban : Kremlin Just Needs U.S. Concurrence, Official Tells U.N.

Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze announced today that the Soviet Union will observe a permanent moratorium on nuclear testing if the United States also agrees.

In a speech to a special General Assembly session on disarmament, Shevardnadze also declared that the Soviet Union will announce the presence or absence of nuclear weapons on naval ships on foreign port calls if the United States and Western allies do the same.

In a 45-minute address, he called for reductions in conventional arms in Europe, including cutbacks by both sides of about 500,000 soldiers each.

Space Weapons Ban

His speech included a call for a ban on space weapons, a chemical weapons ban, a U.N. naval force and a central role for the United Nations in verifying disarmament.

But the highlight of the speech appeared to be renewal of the Soviet offer of a nuclear testing moratorium. When the Soviet Union earlier announced and observed a unilateral moratorium for 1 1/2 years, the United States did not go along and the moratorium ended.

“Our invariable position on a nuclear testing moratorium is still valid,” Shevardnadze said. “On the basis of reciprocity with the United States, we are ready to reintroduce and to observe it, this time not for a year and a half, but for all times.”

Without limiting and banning nuclear tests, he said, it is difficult to prevent the global spread of nuclear weapons.

The Soviet foreign minister repeated his call for creation of U.N. naval forces made up of forces of the permanent members of the Security Council: the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, China and France.

On port calls, Shevardnadze said:

“On the basis of reciprocity with the United States and other nuclear powers, the U.S.S.R. is ready to announce the presence or absence of nuclear weapons aboard its naval ships calling at foreign ports.”

Need for Technology Cited

He said technology should be developed to verify the absence of nuclear weapons on naval vessels.

The United States consistently has refused to make disclosures about port calls by nuclear-armed ships.

On another note, Shevardnadze invited representatives of the world community to witness the destruction of the first clusters of Soviet intermediate and shorter-range nuclear missiles.

He told the General Assembly that the event will take place “in just a few days” as the era of nuclear disarmament begins. The invitation included representatives of the U.N. Security Council and Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

“This, of course, is not the Bolshoi Theatre, but a major premiere nonetheless, a momentous historic event,” he said.

“It has been made possible by the Moscow summit. This alone gives the summit an extremely important political dimension.”