U.S. to Accept Soviet Troops in E. Germany : Reunification: A senior diplomat sees the move as the price of reassuring Moscow over NATO ties.

As the price of reassuring Moscow that it has nothing to fear from a united Germany remaining in NATO, the United States is prepared to accept the presence of a large body of Soviet troops in the eastern sector of the new nation for several years, a senior American diplomat reiterated here Wednesday.

The Soviet Union insists that a united Germany should be neutral territory.

Soviet troops may have to stay in East Germany for three to five years, U.S. and other defense officials have said, since the Kremlin may need that much time to relocate its troops. The U.S. diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he expects that the new, unified German government would pay the cost of garrisoning the Soviet troops--as the East German government has done.

The Soviet Union is generally believed to have about 380,000 troops in East Germany--17 combat divisions that are among the best in the Soviet army. But the diplomat said that the number of Soviet personnel who would need to be relocated, including soldiers, administrators and dependents, could run as high as 450,000 people.

“A solution for moving 450,000 people can’t be found overnight,” he said.

Western defense sources say the Soviet Union would have difficulty finding garrison space at home for large formations and their dependents. New quarters would have to be built and training areas established at a time when the national economy is already strained.

There is also the matter of saving Soviet face, as one senior officer put it:

“Nobody can afford the appearance of having Soviet forces booted out of Germany. We need some show of mutual respect, and the Soviets need to leave with some grace.”

The idea of allowing Soviet troops to stay on what is now East German territory even after the two Germanys are joined was first raised by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, earlier this year, when the movement toward unification accelerated.

Its general terms were accepted by U.S. officials and most of their North Atlantic Treaty Organization colleagues, although they are less comfortable with Genscher’s suggestion that NATO should not be allowed to station its troops in the east.

“It’s a big problem,” said the diplomat. “But if you want a united Germany in NATO, you must give them something; the Soviets need face-saving.”

Defense experts say there is a precedent: Norway does not allow foreign NATO troops to maneuver in an area in the far north adjacent to its border with the Soviet Union.

The U.S. diplomat also said that he believes that Moscow will eventually drop its objection to a united Germany remaining in NATO.

“I think it is far safer for them if Germany is a member of the alliance,” he said. “NATO would be a better watchdog (over Germany) than they could set up themselves.”

He said the future of U.S., British and French troops stationed in West Berlin would depend on the “two-plus-four” talks between the Germans and the four major victorious World War II powers on conditions of German unity.

But once Germany is united and sovereign, suggested the official, it would be up to a new German government to decide whether to invite some troops to stay or leave.