§ 25. Mr. SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has discussed President Gorbachev's proposed conventional arms reductions with the Foreign Ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI discussed the matter with my NATO colleagues at the North Atlantic Council ministerial meeting in Brussels on 8 December. I draw my hon. Friend's attention to our statement on conventional arms control in which we welcomed the proposed reductions as a "positive contribution" to redressing the heavy conventional imbalance in Europe. We also called for cuts in the number of tanks to half than present levels, going well beyond the reduction announced by Mr. Gorbachev; and for limits on the tank holdings of individual countries much lower than those of the Soviet Union, even after the proposed cuts. The full text can be found in the copy of the statement placed in the Library of the House.