Soviets Looking Beyond START Nuclear Pact

The Soviet Union is seeking talks on a further arms reduction pact to follow the START nuclear weapons treaty that both sides expect to have ready for signature at a Moscow summit in June, the Bush Administration’s chief disarmament negotiator said Sunday.

Ambassador Richard R. Burt conceded, however, that U.S. officials are divided on the Soviet proposal, with some eager to profit from revolutionary changes in the East Bloc by pushing for deeper arms cuts and others urging caution, lest Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev fall from power.

But Soviet Ambassador Yuri K. Nazarkin, in a televised interview with Burt, said that despite mounting economic problems and nationalist dissension within the Soviet Union, Gorbachev is “strong enough to control the situation.”

Nazarkin called for a new set of Strategic Arms Reduction Talks upon approval of the START accord now being completed. The latter envisions an overall 35% cut in the superpowers’ nuclear arsenals and reductions of as much as 50% in some weapons categories.

The proposed START II negotiations would deal with further reductions of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the superpower arsenals as well as additional cuts in other weapons, Nazarkin said in response to a question by interviewer John McLaughlin.

Last month, the Soviet Union withdrew an earlier demand for restrictions on the Strategic Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars,” research as part of the pending START accord. In return, Washington volunteered concessions sought by the Soviets on air-launched cruise missiles.

Both Nazarkin and Burt acknowledged that differences remain over sea-launched cruise missiles.

Asked about the potential impact on superpower nuclear reduction talks if Gorbachev should lose power, the U.S. envoy replied, “That’s why we’re trying to actually achieve an agreement in the near term.”