N.A.T.O. FORCE

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30270, 24 October 1963, Page 12

N.A.T.O. FORCE

Warning By Russia

(N2. Press Assn.—Copyright) MOSCOW. Oct. 22

The Soviet Union told Britain, the United States, and other North Atlantic countries today that the proposed multilateral nuclear force threatened to hinder progress on East-West peace negotiations. The statement was just short of an official Foreign Office statement and it was so stem in tone that it made Western diplomats in Moscow reexamine the significance of recent hindrances on the Berlin autobahn. It also added to Mr Gromyko's recent statement that EastWest negotiations were not going well. Diplomats had been inclined to treat the delays of British and American troops moving on the autobahn as the result of a local commander’s decision that had to be supported by higher authorities to avoid loss qf face, said A.P.

Not only did the Soviet Union warn today that EastWest talks would be harmed by development of the multilateral force, but it said such a programme would make the Soviet increase its own defence measures. It said: “The Soviet leading circles naturally cannot but consider the dangerous consequences of West Germany’s access to nuclear weapons, in whatever form, and take into consideration the need to ensure the safety of the Soviet Union and its allies in this event. “It is well known,” it saiid. “that the real sponsors and the main moving force behind these plans are the military circles of the United States and the Federal Republic of Germanay. “The revanchist and militarist quarters in Bonn are determined to get a chance to control this weapon, eithter by using the bilateral cooperation with France, or by participating in N.A.T.O.’s multilateral nuclear force, or may be, in both ways.”