Bonn wants deeper nuclear weapons cuts

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 6

Bonn wants deeper nuclear weapons cuts

NZPA-Reuter

Washington

The West German Foreign Minister, HansDietrich Genscher, has urged President Reagan to press for deeper cuts in East-West nuclear arsenals and a global ban on chemical weapons.

“This was a very good and very successful visit,” Mr Genscher told reporters after meeting Mr Reagan yesterday. Mr Genscher also urged the Senate to act swiftly to ratify the recentlysigned Intermediate Nuclear Forces (1.N.F.) treaty eliminating inter-mediate-range nuclear missiles from the United States and Soviet stockpiles.

Mr Genscher said the on-site verification procedures in the I.N.F. pact “can be a model for other fields as well,” particularly for bringing an end to the use of chemical arms.

There was no immediate official U.S. reaction but American officials who asked that they not be identified said Washington was not enthusiastic about his call for global elimination of chemical arms and for reductions of battlefield nuclear weapons in

Europe. They said reducing battlefield nuclear weapons with ranges of less than 500 km remains low on the United States list of priorities.

The Reagan Administration also has trouble with finding a way to verify the destruction of chemical weapons. The sources said there is little chance of progress on the issue until a method of verification could be worked out. Mr Genscher acknowledged that dealing with chemical weaponry was more complex than verifying I.N.F. accord, but insisted “these are very good points of departure.” Under the I.N.F. accord both nations would be able to demand inspection of any site to insure that the accord was being honoured.

Mr Genscher, visiting Washington as head of the Council of Ministers of the 12-member European Community, promised to

try to eliminate some of the trade frictions between the E,C. and the United States. United States officials expressed mild concern to Mr Genscher about the sluggishness of the German economy but did not force the issue, West German officials travelling with Mr Genscher said. Mr Genscher’s meetings during his one-day visit included sessions with the Treasury Secretary, James Baker, and Federal Reserve Board chairman, Alan Greenspan, but the German sources said these bilateral meetings were not the appropriate forum for raising United States concerns about the German economy. “We will make economic co-operation between the European Community and the United States easier and help improve export opportunities for the United States to the E.C.. and therefore improve the situation,” he said.