Brezhnev says U.S. has stalled talks

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 8

Brezhnev says U.S. has stalled talks

NZPA Moscow The general secretary’ of the Soviet Communist Party (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) has said that “no serious forward movement” has been achieved at Geneva in negotiating a new treaty to limit strategic nuclear arms, the “New York Times” news service has reported. As in the past, he blamed the United States for the impasse, arguing that the Carter Administration was still seeking unilateral advantage. The Soviet Communist Party leader, in a televised statement that was recorded and broadcast as a prelude to his visit to Paris on June 20, said that there had been signs of rapprochment on some issues when the Foreign Minister (Mr Andrei Gromyko) met the American Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance) 10 days ago, but. that substantive progress was not evident. This coincided with remarks made in private last week by a Soviet expert on American affairs, who said there had been no movement on the key questions separating the two sides. The main problem is the deployment of the American Cruise missile, a low-flying winged drone capable of being launched from submarines, surface ships, aircraft, or ground bases. The United States does not want the missile limited as long as its range is under 2415 km (1500 miles). The Russians want it restricted over 580 km (360 miles), arguing that if launched near Soviet territory it has the same effect as an intercontinental missile based in the United States. At the same time, Wash-

ington has demanded the control of a new Soviet bomber, code-named Backfire in the West, which some American military analysts say can reach the United States, drop nuclear bombs, and land in Cuba. The Russians deny that the plane has intercontinental range. In his speech, Mr Brezhnev made a passionate plea for arms control, warning of the dangers of a continued spiral in the arms race. “A spiral is not simply a repetition of what has already taken place,” he declared. “Not only is the planet already oversaturated with means of mass destruction, but there is also a real and an annually growing danger of new kinds and new systems of weapons being created, weapons that will be many times more destructive than the old ones.”