A Major Sticking Point

In a world groaning under the weight of more than 50,000 nuclear warheads, who would have thought the most promising attempt to sharply cut that frightening number could be stalled by a dispute over 72 aging missiles? Such a disagreement has emerged as a major obstacle to a U.S.-Soviet accord on intermediate nuclear forces (INF) that would ban medium- and shorter-range missiles in both Asia and Europe.

After a flurry of diplomacy in the past two weeks, Moscow and Washington seemed on the brink of an agreement based on the so-called global double-zero concept. But the talks have bogged down over 72 West German Pershing IAs. While the missiles themselves are owned by West Germany, their warheads are controlled by the U.S. because Bonn is prohibited from owning nuclear weapons. The Soviets insist the Pershing IAs are American and should be included in the proposed ban. The U.S. counters that they are a "third-party system" and should not be part of any U.S.-Soviet pact.

The Reagan Administration hoped to break the impasse by abandoning plans to replace the Pershing IAs with more up-to-date launchers. But last week Soviet officials declared this solution unacceptable. The Soviets have also spurned an offer for "accelerated obsolescence" of the Pershing IAs that would allow them to remain in West Germany until 1992, when an accord would go into effect. In a significant concession, Washington also agreed to destroy its ground-based cruise missiles in West Germany rather than convert them to sea- launched weapons stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite the flap, both sides seem eager to reach an INF accord before Reagan leaves office. Optimists were encouraged by two developments last week. One was the announcement that the much delayed meeting between Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, widely seen as a prelude to a summit in the U.S. later this year, will begin on Sept. 15. The other was the upbeat tone struck by Kenneth Adelman when he announced his resignation as director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Said Adelman, a skeptical critic of many arms-control proposals: "I want to leave at a time when it was clear that things were coming up roses."