Shevardnadze Hails Bush Talk, Claims Co-Credit

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said today that President Bush’s disarmament plan is a serious step in the right direction but claimed some of the credit for forcing Washington to respond to Moscow’s challenge.

Shevardnadze said Moscow and its Warsaw Pact allies will need time to examine the Bush plan in detail but “my first impression is that it is a serious step in the right direction.”

Speaking at Orly Airport before heading into Paris to address a 35-nation East-West conference on human rights, Shevardnadze said the Soviet delegation at East-West arms talks in Vienna is prepared to “seriously discuss” the American proposals.

Reacting to a Bush Administration proposal was a new experience for the Soviet foreign minister, whose office has expressed impatience with the length of time the U.S. leader has devoted to reviewing American foreign policy.

In his speech on human rights at the Sorbonne University later, Shevardnadze claimed some of the credit for forcing Washington to respond to Moscow’s challenge.

“We congratulate ourselves that our policy based on ‘starting from a position of strength’--the strength of initiatives--is proving effective, that the peace offensive is bearing fruit,” he said.

Moscow had called on the United States for a long time to reduce its troops and arms in Europe in the context of a general reduction of the military confrontation on the Continent, he said.