
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 20, 1990                   TAG: 9005200090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Medium

WEAPONS ACCORD REACHED

Secretary of State James Baker on Saturday concluded a "trailblazing agreement" with the Soviet Union to destroy chemical weapons and settled long-smoldering disputes over limits on nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

"We have engaged in some heavy lifting," Baker said after four days of marathon talks that set the stage for this month's meeting between President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. "The progress we have made here makes me optimistic that we will have a productive summit in Washington."

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze said the Moscow meetings gave him "confidence now that the treaty on strategic arms can be prepared for signature before the end of this year."

At the same time, a tired-looking Baker said before flying home that the two sides had made less progress than he hoped toward a treaty to reduce troops, tanks and other non-nuclear arms in Europe.

Bush, speaking with reporters in Texas, gave the talks a "mixed review." He said it would "take some give" by the Soviets for the summit to be a success.

The agreement on chemical weapons, to be signed during the May 30-June 3 summit, is designed to show the way for some 40 nations negotiating a global ban on chemical weapons production in Geneva.

"Very simply put, this U.S.-Soviet accord is a trailblazing agreement," Baker said.

Baker said Bush and Gorbachev also will sign an agreement on verifying limits on underground nuclear test explosions conducted under 1974 and 1976 U.S.-Soviet treaties. The protocols call for on-site inspection.

Baker said the two sides were closer to a plan for elections in Afghanistan, which the Soviet Union invaded in 1979.

The agreement on air and sea-launched cruise missiles removes a major obstacle to a declaration to cut U.S. and Soviet long-range nuclear weapons by Bush and Gorbachev at their summit.

"We are now in a position to do so," Baker said, although he said some issues remained to be settled. They will be tackled by U.S. and Soviet negotiators beginning today in Geneva, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) might be completed by the end of the year.

Baker was euphoric in announcing the chemical weapons pact.

"We have reached agreement on a precedent-setting accord," he said.

Under the agreement to be signed at the summit, the two sides would immediately cease production of chemical weapons and destroy 80 percent of their stocks.

by CNB