§ 28. Mr. MaplesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made concerning the unilateral withdrawal of Soviet nuclear and conventional forces from eastern Europe over the last year.
§ 43. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made concerning the unilateral withdrawal of Soviet nuclear and conventional forces from eastern Europe over the last year.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Soviet Union has carried out the initial phase of its unilateral withdrawal of ground536W forces from eastern Europe on schedule. However, it has suspended the removal of further troops from East Germany in part pending the outcome of the two plus four talks on the future status of Germany. We do not expect the two Soviet divisions in Poland to withdraw in the immediate future.
The majority of Soviet nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missile launchers appear to have been withdrawn from Czechoslovakia and probably all from Hungary. Nuclear-capable artillery is still in the process of being withdrawn and some will probably remain in Czechoslovakia until the last divisions leave.
The Soviet Union has carried out, and probably exceeded, its stated intention to withdraw 300 combat aircraft from eastern Europe; some of the aircraft would have been capable of both nuclear and conventional operations. Some air defence surface-to-air missile forces have been withdrawn from Hungary, East Germany and Poland.