Cheney Rejects Yeltsin Plan for Big Arms Cuts

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney on Sunday rejected Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin’s proposal for deep cuts in long-range nuclear weapons, warning that the superpowers could create an unsafe situation if they made their nuclear arsenals too small.

Cheney, striking the Bush Administration’s first openly skeptical note about Yeltsin’s arms reduction proposals, said he particularly wants to preserve the U.S. nuclear submarine force, one of the targets of the Russian’s plan.

“I prefer our proposal,” Cheney said on “Newsmaker Sunday,’ a CNN interview program. “ . . . There’s a level there we want to hold at.”

Both Yeltsin and President Bush proposed deep cuts in long-range nuclear weapons last week, but Yeltsin’s plan was more sweeping.

Bush suggested a cut of about 50% in the ceilings established in last year’s Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, to the range of 3,000 to 3,600 strategic weapons. He specifically urged cuts in long-range missiles with multiple warheads, which U.S. officials consider the most dangerous component of the Russian nuclear force.

Yeltsin, in response, suggested a deeper cut, to the range of 2,000 to 2,500 weapons, and urged reductions in nuclear submarine forces--the area in which the United States has the greatest advantage over Russia.

Cheney said it is clear that deep cuts would be implemented one way or another.

“I think there’s no question but what we will go beyond START in terms of reducing the amount of strategic systems on both sides,” he said.

However, he criticized Yeltsin’s proposal to eliminate so many weapons as possibly creating an unstable situation.

“It’s important, I think, to preserve an adequate level in terms of the number of submarines we have. I think that’s stabilizing, not destabilizing,” Cheney said.

U.S. officials consider a large submarine force to be stabilizing in terms of deterring a nuclear attack because it would be impossible for an attacker to find and destroy every nuclear sub--and thus impossible for the attacker to prevent a retaliatory attack.

“And while we want to get rid of MIRV (multiple-warhead) systems, single-warhead systems are not nearly as threatening,” Cheney added. “You’re going to want to retain at least enough there so it’s a manageable force that provides for our deterrent.”

He noted that Secretary of State James A. Baker III plans to go to Moscow next week to open negotiations on the two proposals.

By contrast, Cheney hailed Yeltsin’s proposal for U.S.-Russian cooperation on a global missile defense system that might resemble the Administration’s controversial Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as “Star Wars.”

“This is the first time the Soviets have really been very forthcoming in saying they want to work on deploying defenses,” he said. “I think that’s a major breakthrough. I think we’ve got significant possibilities now of really achieving something significant in that area.”