Word: brezhnevs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...other weapons in the western Soviet Union. Ustinov's remarks were carefully targeted and timed. Moscow's campaign will soon face two key tests: the opening on Nov. 30 of the Geneva talks on limiting Soviet and American theater nuclear forces (T.N.E) in Europe, and Leonid Brezhnev's visit on Nov. 22 to West Germany, where opposition to the NATO missile plan is already strong enough to endanger Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's hold on the government...
...Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that NATO contingency plans included exploding a nuclear device as a "demonstration" to persuade the Soviets to fall back, should they seek to overrun Western Europe. Grumbled a Western diplomat in Bonn: "Which sounds best to the West Germans in the present circumstances, Brezhnev waffling about his desire for peace, or Haig waffling about firing a warning nuclear shot above the Russians' heads?" Lamented a member of Schmidt's divided Social Democratic Party: "Those who say 'Better red than dead,' have certainly received a boost...
...Brezhnev's pose as a peacemaker was also undermined late last week when Sweden charged that the Soviet submarine that ran aground in Swedish waters on Oct. 27 was probably carrying nuclear weapons. For the Soviets, who have been pushing hard for a Nordic nuclear free zone, the incident was an embarrassing blow to their peace offensive. Swedish Foreign Minister Ola Ullsten declared the affair "a frightening reminder of how close we are to the precipice, how great the risk is for a nuclear...
Just how sincere the Soviets are on that point will be tested when the T.N.F. talks begin on Nov. 30. As Sonnenfeldt puts it, "If Brezhnev really has something up his sleeve, we'll see it when they sit down at the table, not before." But if the Soviet leader's counting methods are any indication, there may be considerable wrangling before the two sides even agree on a common starting point for discussion. Furthermore, despite their professed desire to negotiate, the Soviets have little incentive to make serious concessions as long as the peace movement in Europe...
Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev greeted Jaruzelski's appointment with a cordial telegram urging him to use his "great prestige" to rally the Polish party against "counterrevolution." There was no indication that the Kremlin had imposed Jaruzelski on the Poles; indeed, it probably would have preferred Politburo Hard-Liner Stefan Olszowski. But the Soviets apparently found the general an acceptable replacement for Kania, in whom they had lost all confidence...