| UT a

TRIBUNE SUPPLEMENT

NEXT 5 TO & YEARS ~

Europe

test ban

e Cut U.S.-USSR intercontinental |
missiles by 50% a

e Eliminate U.S.-USSR
medium-range missiles in

e Stop development of space
strike weapons |
e U.S. to join USSR in nuclear

e No French, British nuclear
build-up.

everywhere, as it has repeatedly stated, it is
being offered a practical opportunity to begin
this in practice. Instead of wasting the next
10-15 years by developing new, extremely
dangerous space weapons, allegedly designed to
make nuclear arms useless, would it not be
more sensible to start eliminating those arms

"and finally bring them down to zero? The Soviet
Union, I repeat, proposes precisely that.

’ The Soviet Union calls upon all peoples and
states and, naturally, above all, nuclear states,
to support the program of eliminating nuclear
weapons before the year 2000. It is absolutely
clear to any unbiased person that if such a
program is implemented, nobody would lose
and everybody stands to gain. This is a problem
common to all humanity and it can and must be
solved only through common efforts. And the
sooner this program is translated into action the
safer life will be on our planet. ¢

es uided by the same approach and the desire
to make another practical step within the
context of the program of nuclear disarmament,
the Soviet Union has taken an important
decision.

We are extending our unilateral moratorium
on all nuclear testing, which expired on
December 31, 1985, by three months. Sucha
moratorium will remain in effect even longer if
the United States also stops nuclear tests. We
propose once again to the United States to join
this initiative whose significance is evident to
practically everyone in the world.

It is clear that adopting such a decision was
by no means simple for us. The Soviet Union
cannot display unilateral restraint with regard to
nuclear tests indefinitely. But the stakes are too
high and the responsibility too great for us not
to try every possibility of influencing the
position of others through the force of example.

Allexperts, scientists, politicians and military
people agree that the cessation of tests would
indeed block the channels for upgrading nuclear
weapons — and this task has top priority. A
reduction of nuclear arserals alone, without a
prohibition of nuclear weapons’ tests, does not
offer a way out of the dilemma of nuclear
danger, since the remaining weapons would be
modernized and there would still remain the
possibility of developing increasingly
sophisticated and lethal nuclear weapons and
evaluating their new types at test ranges.

herefore, the cessation of tests is a practical
step towards eliminating nuclear weapons.
I wish to say the following from the outset:
Possible references to verification as an
obstacle to the establishment of a moratorium
on nuclear explosions would be totally:
groundless. We declare unequivocally that

verification is no problem so far as we are
concerned. Should the United States agree to
stop all nuclear explosions on a reciprocal basis,
appropriate verification of compliance with the
moratorium would be fully ensured by national
technical means as well as through international
procedures — including on-site inspections
whenever necessary. We invite the USA to
reach agreement to this effect.

The USSR is strongly in favor of the
moratorium becoming a bilateral, and later a
multilateral action. We are also in favor of
resuming the trilateral negotiations involving
the USSR, the USA and Great Britain on the
complete and general prohibition of nuclear
weapons tests. This could be done immediately,
even this month. We are also prepared to begin
multilateral test ban negotiations without delay
within the framework of the Geneva Conference
on disarmament, with all nuclear powers taking
part.

Non-aligned countries are proposing
consultations with a view to making the 1963
Moscow Treaty banning nuclear tests in the
atmosphere, in outer space and underwater
apply also to underground tests, which are not
covered by the Treaty. The Soviet Union is
agreeable to this measure too.

Since last summer we have been calling upon
the United States to follow our example and
stop nuclear testing. Washington has as yet not
done that despite the demands of public
opinion, and contrary to the will of most states
in the world. By continuing to set off nuclear
explosions the U.S. side continues to pursue its
elusive dream of military superiority. This
policy is futile and dangerous, a policy which is
not worthy of the level of civilization that
modern society has reached.

In the absence of a positive response from the
United States, the Soviet side had every right to
resume nuclear tests starting January 1, 1986. If
one were to follow the usual ‘‘logic”’ of the arms
race, that, presumably, would have been the
thing to do.

B ut the point is that it is precisely that .

notorious *‘logic’’ that has to be firmly
rejected. We are making yet another attempt in
this direction. Otherwise the process of military
rivalry will become an avalanche and any
control over the course of events will be
impossible. To submit to the force of the .
nuclear arms race is inadniissible. This would
mean acting against the voice of reason and the
human instinct of self-preservation. What is
required are new, bold approaches, a new
political thinking and a heightened sense of
responsibility for the destinies of people. ©

The U.S.-administration is once again given
more time to weigh our proposals on stopping
nuclear tests and to give a positive answer to

them. It is precisely this kind of response that
people everywhere will expect from :
Washington.
The Soviet Union is addressing an appeal tO |
the United States President and Congress, tO |
the American people. There is an opportunity ! j
halt the process of upgrading nuclear arms an® | |
developing new weapons of that kind. It must —
not be missed. The Soviet proposals place the —
USSR and the United States in an equal
position. These proposals do not attempt to
outwit or outsmart the other side. We are |
proposing to take the road of sensible and
responsible decisions.
In order to implement the program of
reducing and eliminating nuclear arsenals, the
entire existing system of negotiations has to be
set in motion and the highest possible efficien) —
of disarmament machinery ensured. a
In a few days the Soviet-American talks 00 —
nuclear and space arms will resume in Genev@: —
When we met with President Reagan last
November at Geneva, we had a frank i
discussion on the whole range of problems that
constitute the subject of those negotiations,
namely on space, strategic offensive arms an
intermediate-range nuclear systems. It was”
agreed that the negotiations should be aa
accelerated and that agreement must not remalt
a mere declaration.
The Soviet delegation in Geneva will be
instructed to act in strict compliance with the
agreement. We expect the same constructive
approach from the U.S. side — above all on the
question of space. Space must remain peacefl
Strike weapons should not be deployed there:
Neither should they be developed. And let the!
also be a most rigorous control, including |
opening the relevant laboratories for inspectiO™ |
Humanity is at a crucial stage of the new ~
space age. It is time to abandon the thinking of
the stone age, when the chief concern was tO
have a bigger stick or a heavier stone.
We are against weapons in space. Our
material and intellectual capabilities make it _
possible for the Soviet Union to develop any
weapon if we are compelled. But we are fully
aware of our responsibility to the present ane “t
future generations. It is our profound convict”
that we should approach the third millenniu™ |
not with the Star Wars program but with
large-scale projects of peaceful exploration of
space by all humanity. We propose to start
practical work on such projects and their
implementation. This is one of the major way®
of ensuring progress on our entire planet and
establishing a reliable system of security for all

T o prevent the arms race from extending int a
space means to remove the obstacle to 0°

cuts in nuclear weapons. There is on the 1
negotiating table in Geneva a Soviet proposal

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 23, 1986