America Blamed For Rise In Soviet Arms

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31028, 6 April 1966, Page 18

America Blamed For Rise In Soviet Arms

tN.Z. Press Association —Copyright) MOSCOW, April 5. The Soviet Premier, Mr Alexi Kosygin, today blamed United States “aggression” in Vietnam for recent increases in Soviet defence spending and shortcomings in the Russian economy, United Press International reported.

He also criticised Mr Nikita Khrushchev for “errors, miscalculations and amateurism” in planning the country’s economy while he was in power.

In a speech at the seventh session of the 23rd Soviet Communist Party Congress, Mr Kosygin said: “Lately the international situation was seriously complicated by the United States which let loose and keeps intensifying the aggressive war in Vietnam which may expand at any moment and constitutes a threat to universal peace.”

As a result of this and “other aggressive actions of the Imperialists.” Mr Kosygin said, the Kremlin had been forced to concentrate on developing new weapons and increasing the combat efficiency of its troops—at the expense of the civilian economy.

Mr Kosygin injected the grim military note into his lengthy guns-and-butter speech on the Soviet economy during the last seven years and the new Government blueprint for giving its citizens a better life by 1970. Five-Vear Plan He avoided the Utopian promises of Mr Khrushchev, whom he attacked for “subjectivism in deciding economic matters.” However he pledged a better deal for the Russian consumer under the new fiveyear plan (1966-1970) that includes a doubling of the output of television sets and quadrupling car production. Mr Kosygin said that because of America’s escalation of the Vietnam war, Soviet planners are stressing “continuous and comprehensive” development of the defence industry. “Formidable Rebuff” “Along with increasing the output of combat equipment,” he added, “a great emphasis was made on developing and mastering new types of such equipment, on improving the combat and technological characteristics of our armaments. “Russian armed forces are equipped with mighty modern armaments,” he said. Mr Kosygin warned that Russia will keep its armed forces “at such a level to give a formidable rebuff to an

aggressor, if it dares to encroach on the peaceful life and peaceful work of the Soviet people.” Turning to Mr Khrushchev, whom he -helped to depose in October, 1964, Mr Kosygin ridiculed the former Soviet chiefs ambitious 1959-65 seven-year plan. “The party condemns subjectivism in deciding economic matters as amateurish contempt for the data of science and practical experience

which is alien to Leninism,” he said. He said Mr Khrushchev committed "errors and miscalculations” and said that Mr Khrushchev’s economic plan “in a number of instances envisaged economically unjustifiable targets.” To rectify Mr Khrushchev's mistakes, he added, the new five-year plan had been scaled down to conform to the more realistic estimates of the country’s economic potential.