Gains Made at Conventional Forces Talks

East-West talks on cutting conventional forces in Europe were given a major boost Wednesday when the Soviet Union agreed to proposals on how to reduce the number of tanks and armored cars in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact.

NATO delegates said that at a working meeting of the Conventional Forces in Europe talks, the Soviet side dropped objections to a Franco-Polish compromise on definitions and ceilings on how many of the arms each side can hold.

This leaves open the question of new ceilings for artillery, described by Western delegates as relatively simple, and the whole issue of aircraft, seen as a much more difficult problem.

“It is a significant step forward,” one Western delegate said of the Soviet decision.

Moscow raised last-minute objections to the compromise two weeks ago, saying it needed more information on weapons systems.

This raised speculation then that Moscow was trying to slow down the talks because of concern over German unification, although privately they were telling Western delegates it was a bureaucratic problem only.

The breakthrough appeared to boost the chances of a conventional forces agreement this year, opening the way for a summit of the 35-nation Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to discuss the new situation in Europe with Germany united.

The United States has made a conventional forces agreement a condition of its participation at such a conference.