Surprise Soviet Moves On Disarmament Talks

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30286, 12 November 1963, Page 13

Surprise Soviet Moves On Disarmament Talks

(N .Z -P-A -Rtutir—Copyright) NEW YORK, November 11. New directives for the 18*nation United Nations Disarmament Committee may be held up by a dispute today between the Russians and the neutrals over basic directions. The back-stage diplomatic squabble may also threaten the conciliatory “spirit of Moscow” which so far has dominated this year’s disarmament debate in the General Assembly’s Main Political Committee.

Diplomats from 46 small nations, most of them non-aligned, will meet today to decide whether they can accept a series of Soviet amendments to a draft disarmament resolution they have submitted to the Assembly. The 46-nation draft seeks to send the United Nations Disarmament Committee back to Geneva for new negotiations, with specific priority for safeguards against surprise attack and for steps to halt further

spread of nuclear weapons. These are "second-stage" measures, relatively easy to negotiate, and which would by-pass the main disarmament hurdles. The Russians want the 46 nations to delete the specific proposals from their resolution, to cut out a reference to disarmament principles agreed jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union two years ago. and to send the disarmament group back to Geneva without binding directions. The Disarmament Committee, a group of five Western, five Communist and eight neutral nations, recessed in August to await new instructions from the General Assembly. The unexpected Russian attempt to amend the 46nation resolution caused dismay among the leading neutrals, who had already attained United States and British agreement to their draft.

Brttish and American sources were worried by the proposed Russian changes, particularly by the Insistence on cutting out reference to the basic principles agreed m 1961 and never hitherto regarded as controversial. Western diplomats were surprised that the Russians should have antagonised the neutrals by trying to amend their carefully-drafted resolution. Until now, the United Nations disarmament debate has been notable for moderate speeches inspired by the signing of the Nuclear TestBan Treaty in Moscow last August. Although Soviet speeches a month ago were significant far their moderation, observers last week detected a slightly tougher attitude in speeches by some of Russia s European allies. This was linked by some observers with the Russian action to assert control over access on the Berlin autobahn.