Bush Says He Is Bound by Sanctions

President Bush said today he will not lift any sanctions against South Africa--despite the release of Nelson R. Mandela and other signs of moderation--until Pretoria meets all conditions set by U.S. law.

“We can’t do that,” Bush said at a news conference when asked if he would modify any economic curbs against South Africa on the basis of recent liberalization.

“I’m bound by the law. What I do want to do is discuss these provisions with Mr. Mandela and (South African President Frederik W.) de Klerk,” Bush said.

Both have been invited to meet with Bush in Washington.

Bush acknowledged that he finds some sanctions counterproductive but noted that under the U.S. law establishing sanctions in 1986, a number of specific conditions must be met before sanctions can be changed or lifted.

They include the release of all political prisoners, the lifting of a state of emergency, negotiation with the black majority, permission for blacks to live and work where they please and freedom for political organizations.

Asked whether he would broker negotiations between Mandela and De Klerk similar to those of former President Jimmy Carter in the Camp David Middle East accords, he said he would if the two parties feel it would be “helpful.”

However, he said, his brief telephone conversations with the two men indicated to him that they could likely negotiate on their own.

Bush praised De Klerk for taking steps that “move South Africa down the road toward racial equality.”

“I think his coming here evidences that we see in him a new brand of leadership,” the President said of De Klerk.

On another subject, Bush rejected Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s proposal that U.S. and Soviet troops in Europe be cut to equal levels, saying that he wants to get away from such direct “linkage” in the size of troop concentrations.

Bush defended his proposal that the United States be allowed to keep a total of 225,000 troops in Europe while Moscow would be limited to 195,000, and rejected Gorbachev’s counterproposal that the numbers be equal.

“We’re going to stay with our proposal because we don’t see this linkage. . . . We’ve got a big ocean between us and Western Europe,” he said in explaining why the United States should be allowed slightly higher troop levels.

In his State of the Union address, Bush proposed that the United States and Soviet Union be limited to 195,000 troops in central Europe, but that the United States be allowed to keep another 30,000 troops in other European countries.

Moscow now has about 570,000 troops in Europe and the United States has about 305,000 troops on the Continent.

Bush opened the news conference with praise for talks by Secretary of State James A. Baker III in Moscow last weekend with Gorbachev and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze.

He said Baker made “solid progress” on arms control issues that should lead to a successful summit meeting between himself and Gorbachev in Washington in June.

On a related issue, Bush took note of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s weekend talks with Gorbachev and said a reunified Germany should be a member of NATO.