Word: andropov
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Last week Soviet Leader Yuri Andropov put an end to the mounting speculation over Soviet intentions at Geneva. "The appearance of new American missiles in Western Europe," Andropov declared in an interview with the Communist Party newspaper Pravda, "will make a continuation of the present talks in Geneva impossible." He added, "On the other hand, the Geneva talks can be continued if the United States does not start the actual deployment...
...Andropov's announcement was an obvious bid to cow West European leaders into seeking a delay in deployment. It came on the heels of large antimissile demonstrations across Western Europe the previous weekend, and only a day after U.S. forces invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada. It was the second threat from the Kremlin in two days. Before Andropov's message was released, the Soviet Defense Ministry confirmed that Moscow was prepared to retaliate against Western deployment by moving new nuclear missiles into East Germany and Czechoslovakia. "Preparatory work is being started on the territory of the German...
...Andropov's ultimatum was another matter. Since the planned mid-December deployment of the NATO missiles in West Germany and Britain is now a virtual certainty, Andropov was effectively signaling the collapse, for the moment, of the second track of NATO's 1979 "double-track" strategy: to pursue both the deployment of new medium-range weapons and an agreement on their limitation. Although he was careful to propose marginal Soviet "concessions" in order to achieve at least the appearance of continued flexibility, Andropov asserted that Moscow "will not retreat" from its stance that a nuclear balance now exists...
...failure of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) talks. It amounted, in the words of one Western diplomat, to a "last-ditch effort" to drive a wedge between NATO governments. On both counts, the Soviet strategy seemed to fall flat. In Washington, President Reagan deftly countered Andropov by challenging the Soviets "to negotiate seriously at Geneva" and vowing that the U.S. "will stay at the negotiating table as long as necessary." NATO defense ministers, meeting last week at the Canadian resort of Château Montebello, near Ottawa, summarily dismissed the Soviet walkout threat and announced that NATO planned unilaterally...
...part, the U.S. State Department called Andropov's threat to end the INF talks "totally unjustified." Officials also charged that the proposed Soviet concessions did not begin to address the two basic points of contention in Geneva: first, that Moscow refuses to accept the deployment of any new NATO missiles in Europe; second, that the Soviets want "compensation" for the independent nuclear deterrents of Britain and France. The U.S. rejects both positions. The Soviet party chief offered to lower the number of Soviet SS-20s from the current level of 243 to "about 140." Since each...