§ Mr. David Steelasked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals for achieving multilateral disarmament his Department will be presenting at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Heads of Government meeting; whether they will include confidence-building proposals as an alternative to increased defence expenditure; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdThe review of the Alliance security by NATO Heads of Government will certainly deal with prospects for arms control, including the negotiations on intermediate range nuclear forces in Geneva. The Alliance welcomed President Reagan's commitment to open strategic arms talks "as soon as possible" this year. The Western proposal to negotiate verifiable, binding and militarily significant concidence-building measures applicable from the Atlantic to the Urals remains on the table; but it takes two sides to make an agreement.
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