U.S. Stand on East Germany’s Missiles Eased : Arms control: The SS-23s are believed to be training models. No major impact on arms treaty talks is expected.

The Bush Administration softened its reaction Thursday to the discovery of 24 Soviet-made missiles in East Germany, with one official noting that the weapons apparently were transferred by the Soviet Union before a 1987 treaty banning such arms took effect.

As the Administration awaited a Soviet explanation of the diversion, the senior U.S. official said the SS-23 medium-range missiles found in East Germany probably were training models rather than operational arms.

Although the official accused Moscow of being “disingenuous” for failing to disclose that it apparently had given the missiles to East Germany, their discovery is not expected to have a major impact on negotiation of a more comprehensive strategic arms pact.

If the SS-23s changed hands before the 1987 medium-range missile treaty took effect in mid-1988, no violation occurred because the pact provided for destruction of only those missiles contained in U.S. and Soviet arsenals, said the official, who requested anonymity.

Even so, he said, the Soviets should have informed the United States about the weapons, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The East German government said they were equipped with non-nuclear devices.

Similar U.S. weapons sold to West Germany before the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty took effect were known to the Soviet Union and eventually eliminated at Moscow’s insistence.

The Administration’s view, as it continues to negotiate new arms agreements with Moscow, is that the presence of the missiles in East Germany is irritating, but not a deliberate or significant effort by the Kremlin to circumvent the 1987 treaty.

“We’re working on the theory that it was a mistake, that the Soviets just lost or forgot about those missiles,” another U.S. official said. “It was incredibly dumb of them, and they’ll suffer for it, but given the state of our relationship and their desire for the new START agreement, I can’t see them doing it deliberately to circumvent the treaty.

“We’ve lost things, too,” he said. Some weeks ago, he disclosed, Army officials found in a warehouse a portion of a Pershing 1 missile that should have been disclosed years ago and destroyed before the end of last year.

The senior official predicted that the episode will have no lasting impact on the negotiation and ratification of the START agreement, which would reduce the number of long-range offensive nuclear weapons in the superpowers’ arsenals by as much as 50%.