U.S. Rejects 5-Year Soviet Plan on Germany, NATO

The Soviet Union said today that a united Germany can join NATO after a five-year transition period during which all Soviet and U.S. troops would leave the country. The United States rejected the proposal.

The proposal was outlined by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze during international talks in East Berlin on the strategic future of a united Germany.

The remarks indicate that a united Germany would be free to join the Western NATO alliance after a five-year transitional period.

But in exchange, Western and Soviet troops would pull out of the country and Germany’s own military strength would be sharply reduced, according to the proposal.

Shevardnadze made the proposal as he met with U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and their counterparts from Britain, France and the two German states.

“I am under-whelmed,” Baker said when asked about the Soviet proposal while posing for pictures with the other foreign ministers.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials objected to the five-year time limit before Germany could join NATO. The official said the other Western ministers expressed the same reservations.

Shevardnadze said the Soviet proposal seeks to limit the strength of the German armed forces and “to revamp their structure to make sure that they are rendered incapable for offensive operations.”

Those reductions could be undertaken over a three-year period, according to the proposal. Germany would also be prevented from producing or deploying chemical or nuclear weapons.

There are about 380,000 Soviet troops in East Germany, while a quarter-million U.S. troops are stationed in West Germany along with British and French soldiers.