NATO Stresses Defense Despite Soviet Reforms

NATO defense ministers today welcomed political reforms in the Soviet Union and parts of Eastern Europe but said the Western alliance will continue to need robust defenses, including a strong nuclear strategy.

At the end of a nuclear planning meeting, ministers said the Soviet Union retained awesome nuclear and conventional firepower, and they called on Moscow to slash its short-range nuclear forces in Europe by 1,300 missile launchers.

“We welcome the changes in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, and we are eager to address a range of issues with the Warsaw Pact,” U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told a closing news conference.

But he added: “We also think it is extremely important in this period of change that we maintain our military capability.”

“We must keep a coherent defense in this transition period,” NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner said.

The two-day meeting was dominated by discussion of the political changes in the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary and East Germany and progress toward an East-West agreement that will slash tanks and other military hardware in Europe.

In a final communique, the ministers welcomed the reforms and unilateral force cuts by the Warsaw Pact to date. But they said Moscow was still modernizing its long-range nuclear forces and continued to have massive superiority in short-range or battlefield nuclear weapons stationed in Eastern Europe.