Soviets Offer U.S. ‘Half a Loaf’ on European Arms Treaty

Although Secretary of State James A. Baker III indicated that no progress was made on arms issues in Moscow last week, the Soviets did offer “half a loaf” toward ending the deadlock over Moscow’s attempt to exempt several major military units from the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, U.S. sources said Tuesday.

The Soviet position was rejected, U.S. officials said, because the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies are insisting that the Soviets renounce their effort to reinterpret the agreement after it was signed.

Still, the Soviet proposal--to count half of about 5,000 tanks and other weapons in dispute against the treaty limits--is viewed as heartening to some degree. “It’s not there yet,” said one official, “but they do seem to want to find a solution rather than stonewalling.”

The fundamental treaty issue is whether the Soviets were correct in transferring three divisions from the Red Army to the navy as “coastal defense” and “naval infantry” units before the treaty took effect. Naval forces are not included in the treaty.

The Soviet effort to circumvent the treaty has effectively halted progress in U.S.-Soviet relations because it raises doubts that the Soviets negotiated in good faith, Baker has said.

Until the issue is resolved, the Administration said it will not submit the CFE treaty to Congress for ratification. The matter has also become the main obstacle to completing final details of the strategic arms reduction treaty (START) on nuclear weapons, which, in turn, is holding up setting a new U.S.-Soviet summit date.