§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals were agreed to by the Soviet Union in Reykjavik in relation to (a) a freeze on short-range INF missiles as part of a zero option agreement on INF in Europe, (b) the deployment of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation matching force of sort-range INF missiles and (c) an immediate start to negotiations on reductions in short-range INF weapons.
§ Mr. RentonThe Alliance position is that any agreement on longer range INF should include appropriate constraints on Soviet shorter range intermediate nuclear forces (SRINF).
As the United States Government have made clear, the two sides discussed at Reykjavik a freeze on SRINF in Europe at the level of current Soviet deployments pending the negotiation of reductions. They also agreed that the negotiations on the reduction of SRINF should begin within 6 months of the conclusion of an INF agreement. Precise details were not worked out. The right to equal global ceilings for both the United States and Soviet Union has been a consistent element in the Alliance position in the INF negotiations. This remains the case.
§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the extent to which any agreement between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to abolish all nuclear ballistic missiles should be made dependent upon reducing the levels of chemical and conventional arms.
§ Mr. RentonWe hope to see arms control agreements covering the full range of weapons systems, chemical and178W conventional as well as nuclear. The deeper the cuts in the ballistic missile forces of the United States and the Soviet Union, the more important it becomes to achieve a more stable balance in conventional forces in Europe and an effective and adequately verified ban on chemical weapons.