Moscow rejects US terms for a summit meeting

February 2, 1983

Soviet leader Yuri Andropov Tuesday rejected President Reagan's call for a meeting for the purpose of signing an accord banning all US and Soviet land-based, medium-range missiles.

In an interview released by the Tass news agency, Mr. Andropov also said the United States proposal showed that Washington was not taking a serious approach to the East-West nuclear arms issue. But he said he favored in principle a summit meeting, as long as it was for a different purpose than that suggested by Mr. Reagan.

Vice-President George Bush, who made the Reagan offer public Monday in West Berlin, made clear Tuesday that signing an accord is a necessary condition for the summit. He added that the offer was intended to promote progress at the current nuclear-disarmament talks in Geneva.