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Progress Made in Dispute With U.S. Over A-Arms, Bonn Aide Says

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From Associated Press

West German Defense Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg, ending two days of talks with Secretary of State James A. Baker III, said Friday that the two had “made progress” in forging a common stance on the future of NATO’s short-range nuclear weapons.

“The overall discussions were very, very encouraging,” the defense minister said hours after a senior West German government source said in Bonn that the United States and West Germany had agreed in principle on a compromise.

That report could not be confirmed, however, by either U.S. or West German officials in Washington.

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Stoltenberg, talking with reporters before a meeting with Vice President Dan Quayle, declined to say whether there was an agreement in principle on the issue, which has threatened to split the alliance 10 days before a critical North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit meeting.

Pressed on whether he and Baker had made progress, Stoltenberg said: “We work for a common position, so we have to argue and try to come together. And we made progress.”

A Washington diplomatic source close to the discussions said Baker and Stoltenberg were trying to come to a “gentleman’s agreement” on the nuclear dilemma before the 16-nation NATO summit meeting in Brussels May 29-30.

But that source said no final agreement was expected to emerge from the Baker-Stoltenberg discussions, as both men wished to consult with their superiors about their talks.

At the State Department, Baker conferred with the defense minister for an hour in an unusual one-on-one session before allowing other officials to enter. It was their second round of talks in as many days.

The West Germans have insisted that the United States take the Soviet Union up on its proposal to open talks on the arsenals of short-range nuclear weapons--those limited to targets within 300 miles--maintained by NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

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The Bush Administration has balked, saying such negotiations would be a mistake because they would lead to the elimination of the nuclear weapons that the Western allies need in the face of the Warsaw Pact’s superiority in conventional arms.

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