U.S.-Russia for N-talks

Press, 8 November 1984, Page 10

U.S.-Russia for N-talks

NZPA-AP Washington The United States and the Soviet Union have agreed to hold talks in Moscow beginning on November .28 on controlling the spread of nuclear weapons and technology to other nations, said a Reagan administration official yesterday. The talks are the fourth in a series that began in December, 1982. Beyond that, there were no plans for high-level contacts between the two super-Powers on arms control, said the official. The Soviet Foreign Minister, Mr Andrei Gromyko, met Mr Reagan and the Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz, in Washington in late September. During Mr Gromyko’s visit, the Reagan Administration raised the possibility of another meeting between Mr Shultz and Mr Gromyko, but it had not developed, said the official. The United States delegation to Moscow will be headed by Richard Kennedy, an Ambassador-at-Large and a special assistant to Mr Shultz on non-

proliferation and nuclear energy. He is the United States representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency. The last round was a three-day session in Vienna in February. The emergence of nuclear technology in such nations as Argentina, Brazil and South Africa is expected to be discussed. The United States and the Soviet Union are among 126 countries that are parties to a 1968 treaty designed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons. The meeting probably would be the last between the super-Powers on this subject before the treaty was reviewed next year, said the official. All other negotiations with the Soviet Union relating to nuclear weapons have been in suspension for nearly a year. Mr Reagan has ruled out any concession designed to draw the Soviets back to the bargaining table. But his Administration has promised to be flexible if the talks are resumed.