Soviets’ Evolving World Relations

JAPAN. Russia and Japan are moving toward settlement of a 46-year-old territorial dispute, but the Soviet republic expects billions of dollars in return. The conflict over several small islands off northern Japan, seized by the Soviets at the end of World War II, has blocked a peace treaty and has delayed aid from Tokyo. Ruslan Khasbulatov, acting Speaker of the Russian Federation Parliament, is in Japan for talks to end the stalemate.

FRANCE. Soviet Defense Minister Yevgeny I. Shaposhnikov and his French counterpart Pierre Joxe signed a defense cooperation agreement to encourage exchanges between their two armies. Their talks in Moscow also dealt with the reform of the Soviet army, central control over Soviet nuclear weapons and the prospect of short-range missile reductions, sources said.

INDIA. The Indian government expressed concern that Soviet arms supplies will dry up. Lawmakers suggested that political changes in the Soviet Union could affect India’s defense arrangements.

NATO. The Western alliance met to start reviewing strategy for the post-Cold War era, and there was deep division over what to do in response to the Soviet changes. Alternatives include shifting or cutting forces.

CHINA. China will continue to work for good-neighborly relations with the Soviet Union regardless of any political changes there, Chinese Premier Li Peng said in an interview with the Italian magazine Epoca. “While there may be some impact, it will not be great,” the Chinese leader was quoted as saying.

Source: Times Wire Services