Russia Accuses U.S. Of Spreading Nuclear Arms

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30062, 21 February 1963, Page 22

Russia Accuses U.S. Of Spreading Nuclear Arms

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GENEVA, February 18. The United States and Russia today clashed over Soviet accusations that the Americans are seekin< to spread mteie&r weapons to non-atomie Powers, the Associated Press reported.

America’s chief disarmament negotiator (Mr William Foster) told the Disarmament conference that the charges were completely false, and he said the Russians, by repeating them, were distracting the conference from concluding a nuclear test ban treaty.

Looking directly at the Soviet delegation, Mr Foster said: “United States policy is firmly against the transfer of nuclear weapons into the national control of States which do not possess them.”

He said American policies toward the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance were long standing and designed to retard, rather than accelerate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Associated Press reported.

The Soviet First Deputy Foreign Minister (Mr Vassily Kuznetsov) said the United States was proposing to establish a multi-nation nuclear force. Submarine Crews In the Polaris submarines assigned to N.A.T.O. there would be some of the crew from non-atomic as well as from nuclear Powers, Mr Kuznetsov said. He did not believe sailors from non-nuclear Powers would only “scrub decks and polish the anchor” and have nothing at all to do with the submarines’ rockets. The American-Soviet argument flared at a moment of complete freeze-up in the negotiations for a nuclear test ban treaty.

The “snag” was from a basic East-West disagreement on the number oi on-site inspections of suspicious earth

tremors needed to enforce the

The American delegate said he had assumed the total figure was negotiable. The Americans and British have asked for eight to 10 such checks a year, but have indicated they still were flexible on this point, the Associated Press said.

The disarmament conference was given a petition, signed by more than 100 delegates to the United Nations Conference on Science sod Technology, appealing for general and complete nuclear disarmament. Lord Casey, of Australia, and some of the world’s most eminent scientists were among the signatories, Reuter reported.