W. Germans tell Gromyko they still back missile plan

January 20, 1983

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko left here Wednesday with a clear message from Chancellor Helmut Kohl that the West German leader stands behind NATO plans to deploy US-built medium-range nuclear missiles in West Germany. But West Germany agreed to send a top disarmament expert to Moscow next month for further talks with the Soviets on the planned deployment.

In Moscow, the Soviet press came out with some tough anti-US statements Wednesday. The Communist Party daily Pravda charged that right-wing politicians in the United States intend to use nuclear weapons to dictate their will in both Eastern and Western Europe. Pravda also denounced Washington for its attitude toward detente and for its stance in nuclear-arms talks in Geneva. And the government newspaper Izvestia condemned US plans to equip its submarines with Trident missiles, saying that strategic sea-based weapons were an inseparable part of any agreement on arms limitation and reduction.