Word: inf
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...have given contradictory answers. Negotiator Karpov told journalists in London last week that the West could still get a deal on Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces weapons without a settlement on SDI. But Gorbachev told Argentine President Raul Alfonsin, who was visiting Moscow, that all his proposals at Reykjavik -- on INF, strategic weapons and SDI -- still constitute an "inseparable" package...
...part of a calculated plan to trap the U.S., Gorbachev's opening gambit achieved an intermediate goal: relinking the issue of medium- range missiles to SDI for the time being. Before Reykjavik, the Soviets had indicated that they would be willing to make an interim deal on INF divorced of strategic and defensive issues. The American game plan had been to decouple as many issues as possible from the prickly SDI dispute. But Gorbachev enticed the Americans into a whirligig of negotiations with his sweeping proposals. Only toward the end, when U.S. and Soviet positions overlapped on nearly...
Indeed, the symbolic and political nature of the Euromissile issue has made it possible for both sides to edge toward a proposed compromise that will reduce INF arsenals to "token" forces of 100 warheads each. Such an agreement could provide a centerpiece for a full-fledged summit in the U.S. if Reagan and Gorbachev can iron out the remaining issues this weekend. Among them: the Soviets want only a short-term agreement in order to avoid being locked into a deal if modernization of the French and British independent arsenals commences in the next decade; the Americans want strict verification...
Despite great expectations, some fear that an INF deal could undermine NATO's credibility, since the missiles have become a symbol of U.S. commitment to the alliance's defense. "There are bound to be some accusations that we cried wolf," says one European official. But a European defense expert argues that reduction would not equal a policy shift. "The decision in 1979 to modernize was a two-track decision," he says. "One of the tracks was deployment, the other was arms control. We were always ready to trade those systems...
...INF agreement like the one being proposed would leave NATO in a much stronger position than when it undertook INF modernization in 1979. Both sides would have roughly comparable medium-range forces. It could also pave the way for more serious bargaining on long-range strategic missiles and defensive systems. Yet progress on these fronts, like the final resolution of an INF deal, will require a real impetus, involving further acts of political will from the two leaders meeting in Iceland this weekend...