§ 38. Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there has been any recent progress in the mutual and balanced force reduction talks in Vienna.
§ Mr. LuceThere is no significant progress to report from the mutual and balanced force reductions talks in Vienna. As I told the hon. Member for Monklands, West (Mr. Clarke) on 24 April, at columns 863–64, we are, together with our NATO allies, continuing to study carefully the Eastern proposal of 14 February. This followed the negative response of the East to the positive Western initiative of April 1984.
§ 39. Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the status of the arms control talks in Geneva.
§ 72. Mr. Yeoasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there has been any recent progress in the latest session of the Geneva disarmament talks.
§ Mr. Altonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied with the progress of the Geneva arms talks.
§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied with the progress of the Geneva peace talks.
§ Mr. Luce:The talks are still at an early stage. As my right hon. and learned Friend has made clear, they are likely to be long and complex and will require patience and steady nerves. At the recent North Atlantic Council meeting in Lisbon, the allies expressed strong support for United States efforts at the talks and called on the Soviet Union to adopt a positive approach.