Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990 TAG: 9006020191
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a major concession to Gorbachev, the two leaders signed a trade agreement that is politically important for Gorbachev, who is burdened by deepening economic problems at home.
The trade agreement is a step toward granting most-favored-nation status to Moscow, providing the lowest possible tariffs on Soviet goods. U.S. officials said they would not even send the treaty paper work to the Senate for ratification until the Soviets enact a law protecting Jewish emigration.
The Senate is sure to stall approval unless Gorbachev eases pressure on Lithuania, struggling to secede from the Soviet Union.
Bush said the nuclear-arms agreement was designed to "enhance stability and reduce the risk of war." It will require months of work to put the treaty in final form, but Gorbachev said he shared Bush's goal of signing it by year's end.
The final treaty will force both superpowers to cut their nuclear arsenals by about a third.
Heralding the pact to cut stockpiles of poison gas, Bush said, "Let this landmark agreement quickly lead to a global ban on chemical weapons."
"We are making steps toward a new world," Gorbachev said.
A joint statement was issued on the aims of future nuclear arms talks, saying the superpowers will continue talks to reduce strategic arms and restrict space weapons.
"We may not agree on everything but we agree on one great truth: The world has waited long enough, the Cold War must end," Bush said.
Bush and Gorbachev signed these agreements Friday:
An accord to end production of all U.S. and Soviet chemical weapons and to destroy all but 5,000 tons of each side's stockpile of chemical arms. The rest is to be destroyed when a global production ban is imposed.
A protocol against violations of treaties that limit nuclear tests.
A new five-year bilateral atomic energy agreement to improve cooperation in promoting nuclear reactor safety, fusion energy and basic atomic sciences.
by CNB