7 T H E W H I T E H O U SE WASH IN G T O N Feb rua ry 2 2 198 6 De ar Mr Ge n eral Se cre t ary Th e el imi n a tion of nuc l e ar weap o ns has bee n an American g oa l for d ecades f r om o u r p r o p o s al s a t the d awn o f t h e nucl e ar a ge to my v ision o f a n uclea r -free wo r l d made poss i ble t h rou g h the r el ia n c e o f our c ountrie s on de fe n s e r ath er than on the threat of nuclear reta liation I n a 1983 speech to t h e Japanese Diet and on man y subsequent o c c a s i o n s I have a d v o ca t e d the abolition of nucle ar we a pons I h ave done so be c aus e I bel i ev e t h i s i s an objec t i ve which reflects the deep yearning o f p e ople everywhere a n d which provides a vision to gu ide our efforts i n the years ahead I t was f o r s i mi l a r reasons that I h ave sought to d e v e l o p con cepts and fr ameworks t o guide the ef f o r t s o f o u r governments in other a s p e c t s o f o u r r e l ations -- whether solving the r egional tensions that have d amag ed our rela tions over the y ear s or e xpa ndin g the peop l e -to-people contacts that can e n r i c h both o u r societi es I t is in th i s sp i r i t that I have s tudi ed wi th gre at c are y o u r letter of Janu ary 14 yo u r J a n u ary 1 5 s ta t e ment t o the Sovie t p eople and yo u r s u b s e q u e nt s t a t e me n ts o n the prospects f or p rog r e s s in a r ms con t r ol I b el i eve t he y r e p r ese n t a s i g n i f i ca n t a n d p ositiv e s t e p f o r wa r d I am encour aged that y o u h a ve s ugges t e d s te p s lead i n g t oward a wo r l d f re e fr om nuc l e a r we a p o n s e ve n though my v i e w r eg a rd ing the s te p s ne c e s sary di f fe rs fr om y ours in c ert a in respe cts However h a v i n g a g ree d on t h e j e c t i v e a n d o n t h e n e e d f or t a k i ng conc r e te s t e p s t o r e ach that go a l i t sh ould be e as ie r to r e sol v e d i f f e r en c e s in o u r vie wpo i n t s a s to wh a t t hos e ste ps s hou l d be Ou r initia l moves a r e o f c o u r s e the e ssen t ia l on e s to s ta r t t h i s p r oce ss a n d f ore I i e ve we sh ou ld f o cus o u r n e go t i a t i n g efforts on them • _ r • -r - ' - -- - ' I ' 111 ' 11' 2 Of c o u rs e if we are t o move toward a world i n wh ich the e ventu al e l imi nation o f n u cle ar we apon s wi l l be po ssib l e th er e must b e far g r ea te r tru s t a n d confidence b e twe e n o u r two cou n t r i e s th an e x i s t s at p r esen t We cannot s imp ly wa v e a way the s u s p i c i o n a n d misun de r stand in g s wh i ch h a ve d eve lope d o ver th e p ast f o u r dec a des b e twe e n our t wo c ountr i es The p r o c e s s of r e du ci ng an d e v e n t u a l l y e l i mi n a t i n g nu c l e a r weapons can by itself n urt ure gre a t er con fiden ce and tru st But t he re wi l l be many in my c o u n try a n d I be li eve in y o u r s who wi l l q u e s t io n t he wi sdom o f eliminating n uc lea r we ap ons -- whi c h b oth sides s ee a s the u l t i ma te g ua ra n t o r of t h e ir s ecuri t y -- if the y s e e the o th er 's c onduct a s thr e at ening This l e ad s me t o th ree gener al observati ons F i r s t it will be vitall y necessary a s we move down this path t o e n s u re the most s trin g ent ve r i f i c a tio n with measures far mo re comp rehensive a n d exact i ng than in a ny previous ag r e e men t I we lcome your r ecognition o f this in y o u r express ed wi l l i n g n e s s to make u s e o f on -site inspec tion and to a dopt o th er measu res th at may be ne c e ssary Fo r our p a r t we will be propos ing verification procedures tail ored to the s p e c i f i c weaponry limits whi ch a r e contemplated Our negotiators will of c our se work out the detail s of the me asur es but I believe we b oth wi l l h ave to pay c lo se a tte nt io n to th i s as pe c t a n d s ee to it that o u r r espe c t ive go vernmen ts de velop a n d imp l ement the n e c es s ary a r r a n g e me n t s At the same time it wil l b e e sse n t i a l to r e s ol v e outs ta n di n g c ompl ia n c e co n c e r n s a n d e n s u r e that a l l ob l i gat i o n s o ur g o v e r nme nt s h a v e undert ake n a re f a i t hf u l l y o b se r ve d My s e c ond po int i s t h at a n y s u sta i ne d e f f or t t o res o lve o u r b as i c secu r ity c o n cern s mu st g o handin-hand wi t h conc rete step s t o move a head i n o t h e r a reas of our relationship - - n on -nucl ea r mi li tar y is s u e s r e gi o n a l prob l ems h uman r i g ht s a nd la tera ti es Th e b u i ldu p o f b o th n u cl e a r and co nventi o nal a r mame n ts h a s take n p l a c e i n r ec ent d e c ade s to a d d ress perce i v e d t h r e at s t o se c u r i t y i nc l ud i n g c o nf l i c ts i n oth e r r e g i o n s of t he wo rl d Progress o n re ducing arms should be a c c omp a n i e d b y a corre spo nding e f f o r t t o deal wi t h these pe rc e ptio n s Th e proces s of el i mi na t i ng n u c l ea r arms is liable 0 p r o ve f ra gi l e i n d e e d unl e ss we can d e al wi t h ou r c omp eti ti on in a p e aceful a n d r e spon sib l e wa y q 3 I welcome t h e st at ement i n you r Jan ua r y 1 5 message to the So viet people which c al l s for sett leme nt of reg ion a l conf l i c t s a s s oo n as p os s ible I wou l d urge you a ga in t o con sider se r iou s ly the prop o s a l I ma de a t the Un i te d Nati ons in October f o r a comp r e h e n s i v e a n d fl ex i b le f ramewo r k th at wou l d p ermit o ur two cou n tr i e s t o work t ogether i n con junction with the peoples invol v ed t o sol v e re g ional c o n f l i c t s tha t h a ve dam aged Ea s t - We s t rel a ti ons ove r t he ye ars an d have brought great s uffe r i n g t o th e ar e a s aff ec ted We s ho u l d make every e f f o r t to ensure that i n t h e dia logue on r egi onal i ss u es to which we a g re e d at Gen eva including dis cussions by our fo re ign ministers a nd the meetings of our senior region al experts our governments take a fresh l o o k at ways to reduce tensions between us over regi onal matters I c ontinue to b elieve that regi onal conflicts can and should be resolved peace f ul ly i n ways that a ll ow free choic e without outside interference Finally as you know the United States and its all i e s must r ely today on nuclear weapons to deter c o nv e n t i o na l a s well as nuclear conflict This is due in large part to the significant imbalance t ha t currently e x i s t s b etween the conventional f o r c e s of NATO and the Warsaw Pact As a result it would be necessary as we reduce nuclear we apons toward zero that we concurrently engage i n a process of strengthening the s tab i l i t y of the o v e r a l l Ea st- Wes t secur i t y b al anc e wi th particular e mp ha si s on redressing ex isting c on ve nti onal imbalances strengthening confi de n c e - bui ld i n g me asu r e s a nd a ccomp l i s h i ng a ver i f i a b l e gl ob al b a n o n chemical we a po n s In a dd i t i o n o ur c ooperativ e e ffo r ts to s t re n g t he n t he n u cl ea r non -pro l ife r at ion r egime wou ld b e c ome e ven more impo rtan t As for t h e s peci f i cs o f y our p r o po s a l we cer tai nl y agr ee c t h e g o a l of e l iminating n ucle ar wea pons a s s oo n as we hav e a c h ie v e d th e c ondi ti o n s f o r a wo r ld whi ch makes th at g o al feas i b le We als o a g ree o n the need to g e t o n wi th t h e f i r st ste ps towa rds c r e a t i n g t h o s e condit ions now Th e pace o f progress towar ds a n y target date wou l d h ave t o d epend o n ou r a bil i ty to ar r i v e a t mutu a l l y ac c e p t able gu ar a n t e e s t o en s u re t hat the secu r i t y o f the Un i t e d St a t es t h e So vi e t Uni o n an d o u r r e s p e ctive f r ien d s a n d a ll i e s i s i n n o sens e d i min i s h e d a l o n g the wa y lV 4 I a l s o ag r ee t h a t th e fi r s t s t ep s i n moving t oward t hi s goa l i nv o lve d e e p r e d u c t i on s in the e x i s t i n g a r se nals of t h e Un i t ed Sta t e s a nd th e Sov i e t Uni o n Al s o l i k e you we c an en vis i o n s ubse qu ent s tep s whi ch c ould inv olve the United Kingd om Franc e and the Pe o p l e ' s Re p ub l ic o f Ch ina so t h a t al l c an move to ze ro nu c l e ar we a p on s i n a ba l a n ced a nd stab l e man ne r Fi n a ll y I a lso shar e t he v i e w th a t o ur effo r t s shoul d now f o c us on t h e f i r s t ste p s whi c h the U S a nd USSR can t ake bilate r a l l y to beg in t h e p r o c e ss I c an als o agr e e with s e v e r al of you r idea s on h ow t h is prog ram wou ld p roce ed Th ere a r e o the r de t ai ls how e v e r t ha t wou ld r equ i re modi f ica tion b e f ore I c ou l d ac ce p t them For examp le a s o u r two nat i o n s r educe our nucl e ar weapo ns t oward z ero i t is impe rative that we mainta i n e q ua l limit s on tho s e we a pons at e ac h stage al on g th e way To t h i s end th e United St ates l ast Nov ember pro pos ed a d etailed p l a n f or r edu c tion o f U S and Sov i et s trat egic offensive fo r c e s I am disappoi nted th at the Soviet Un i on h a s not ye t r es p ond e d t o this p ro posa l which builds on you r ideas pre sented to me l a s t fall b y Foreign Min i st er Shevardn ad ze As we discu s s ed i n Geneva we a g re e o n t he p r i n c ip le o f d e ep r educt ions bu t we c annot a g re e that c e r ta i n cate g or i es of we apons systems o n t h e U S side woul d b e i ncluded wh i l e li ke we apon s o n th e Sovie t side wou ld b e ex c l u d e d Simi l arly we mus t i n s i s t t h a t l i mits be b a sed o n s y s t e m c a pab i l i t i e s no t expres sed in tentions You made t hi s p oint v ery e loq u e n t l y to me i n Gen ev a In r e g a r d to l o n g e r - r a n g e IN F mis sile s this me an s th a t we ca n no t exc lude sy ste ms f rom limit s me rely becaus e o f t h e ir depl oymen t l oc at i on s ince t h o s e s ys tems are capa b l e of moving o r being tran sported i n a matt er of days be t ween d i f fer ent ge ogra p hic a r e as I h ave h owever studied c lo se ly y o ur INF proposal of Ja nua ry 1 5 1986 and beli eve th at o ur n e g oti a t o r s at Ge n e v a s h ou ld be abl e to arr i ve at a n e q u itab le ve rifiabl e a n d mutual l y ac cept a b l e I NF agreement In th i s r egard I h ave as ked o u r negotiators du r in g t h i s r o und t o p ropos e a 5 conc re te p la n fo r the e l iminati on o f LRIN F mis sil e s not onl y in Eu r o pe but a l s o in Asi a b e fo re t he e nd of 1989 I n t h e d e f e n s e a n d spa c e a r e a yo u r pro po sa l was a mb i g uo us with r e g a rd t o s tra t eg i c defense r es e a r c h I co n t i n u e t o b elie ve th a t lim i ts on r e s e arc h c oul d b e coun t e r produc t i v e a n d i n any c a s e cou ld not be ve r i f i e d t h e r e f ore the y mus t not b e i nclud e d i n an agr e e ment Bey o nd r esea rch a s I sug g e s t e d in Gen e v a i f the r e were no n ucl e ar mis si le s th e n there might a l s o b e n o ne ed for de fens es a gai n s t th em But I am c o n v i n c e d that some non-nuc l e a r de fens es c o u l d mak e a vital contri but i on to security and stabi l i t y I n any e v e n t o u r n e g oti ators i n Ge nev a should thoroughly e xami ne how we c o u l d ma k e a tran sition to a world involving th e i nc r e a s i ng c ontr ibuti on o f such de fens es with res p ec t t o nucl ear t e s ting I be l i e v e that so long a s we rely on nu c l ear we apon s as an element of deterrence we must continue to test in o r d e r to ensure their c ontinued safety security a n d reliabil i ty However as I wro te to you in December I s e e no reason why we should not cons ider the matt er of nuc l ear t esting as we move fo r wa r d on o th er arms control subj ects I s u g g e s t e d we e s t a b l i s h a bi latera l di alogue aimed a t con st r uc t ive s teps in th is field I r ema i n hopeful y o u will take u p this o f f e r Fi n a l ly although y o u r pro po s al s e ems t o r e c ogniz e tha t t h e c r uc i al fi r s t s te p i s s ubstan t i al b i l a t er a l U S and Sov i e t nu c lear r educ tions i t al so attache s c er t a i n c onditi ons r ega r ding the forces o f th e United Ki n g d om a n d France As y o u know th e Uni t ed St ate s c an make n o c ommitment s fo r other nuc l e ar p owers no r can we a g r e e to bilateral U S -S oviet a r r a nge ments wh i c h wo u ld s u g g e s t oth e r wise The negot i at i ons of l imita t ion s o n th i r d c o untry n uclear s ys t e ms is so l e l y the res pon sibl lity a nd pre r og a t ive of t he gove rnments con ce r ne d The le ad ers of Bri tain Fr a n c e and Chi n a hav e ma de k nown t he i r views on t h i s and on t h e p rog r e s s n e c essary in U S -Sovi e t nuclea r r edu c t io n s a n d in o t he r arms con t rol a reas wh i c h wo u l d e s t a b l i s h t he 6 conditions f o r them to consider how their sec u rity in t e re sts wou l d be s erved by parti cipa t ion in f u t u re negotiations Thus the important t a s k now b efore us i s to ma ke the n ec e s s a r y p ro g r es s Wh en we have d on e so -- a s I n oted ear li er -- I can e n v i s i o n a p roces s inv o l v i n g t he o ther n uc le ar power s so that we a ll ca n move t o z e ro n ucl ear we a p ons in a b alanced and stable mann er Wi th t he se c ons i de ra tions in mind and build i n g u p o n your propo sa l I propose tha t we a g r ee upo n the elements whi ch we hold i n c ommo n as o u t l i ne d above and that we a ccel e rate wo rk on the f irst b il atera l steps Impl emen ting det ai ls must be worked o ut by o u r negoti ators i n Ge neva Vi enn a a n d St ockholm b u t our guiding o b j ec t i v e should be t o r each me aningful verifi ab l e and b al an c ed arms c ontrol meas u r e s e ach o f which can stand o n its merit s a t e ve r y stage of th e larger process I n s umma ry I would propo s e that the p r o ce ss towa r d our agreed go a l o f el i mi n a t i ng nuclear weapon s incl u d e the f o l l o wi n g e l e ments In iti a l Step s I belie v e that these s t e p s should involve r eduction in and limits o n nucl r co n ve n t i o na l a n d chemi c al we apons as f Q t w s 1 Th e U S and the USSR would r educe the number of warh e ads on their str at egic b allis ti c mi s s i l es to 4500 a n d t h e number o f ALCMs o n the i r h e avy bombe r s t o 15 00 r e su lting i n n o more than a tot al numbe r of 6000 such wa rh e a ds o n strateg i c nuc l e a r del ivery v ehi c l es The s e r educ ti o n s wo ul d b e c arried o u t in s uc h a wa y as to e n h ance s t a bi l i t y 2 I n the INF area b y 19 8 7 bot h t h e Un i ted State s a n d t h e So v i t Uni o n wo u l d l i mit their LRI NF missile de pl oyments i n Europe to n o more t han 14 0 l aun ch e rs e a ch with the Sovie t Un i o n ma k i n g c oncurre n t p r oport i o n ate r educti o ns i n Asi a Wi t h i n the f ol lowi ng y e a r both si de s wo u l d f u rt he r r edu c e t h e n umbe r s of LRI NF lau nc he rs remai ni n g i n Eu ro p e and As i a b y an a d d i t i o n a l 50% Finally b oth s ides wo u l d move t o the total elimi na t ion o f t h i s c a t e g ory of we a p o n s by th e e n d o f 1989 7 3 Re se a r ch p r o g r a ms on s t rate g ic d e f e nses woul d be c ondu cted in a cco r d wi th t r e aty o b l i ga t i on s 4 Th e U S a n d the USS R would estab l i s h an e ff e c t i v e MBF R ver i f ic a t i o n r egime and c a r ry o u t i n i t ia l r educt io n s in ma n powe r l e v e l s al o ng the l i n es of t h e r ecent We s t ern pro po s a l a t the MBFR negot ia ti on s they wou l d t he n be gin a p r o c e s s of movi ng o n to a balance o f n on - nu c l ear ca pabilities i n Eu r o pe 5 Concrete a n d meani n gful c o n fi d ence -building mea su r e s d e s i gned t o make th e Eu rope a n mil i t ary e nv iro nme n t more open predictable a n d s t a b l e would be initiated 6 An e f fective comprehensive worldwide ban on the d e v elopment production p ossession and tran s fer of chemical we apons would be instituted wi t h s t r i c t verification measures i ncluding i nt e r national on -site inspection Subsequent ste p s Sub s e q u e n t s t e p s c o u l d involve oth e r n ucle ar powers and wo u l d aim at f u r t h e r r eductions and increasingly stric t limits u l t i ma t e l y le a d ing to the el im ination o f all nuclear we a p on s We woul d embark on t his process as s o on a s the steps encompass ed in the f i r s t stage are completed The goal would be to c omp let the process as soon a s the condition s for a non - n ucl e ar wo rl d h ad b een achiev ed Obliga tion s a s s ume d in al l s te ps a nd are as would b e v e r i f i e d by nati on a l technical me ans by o n -s i t e in s p e c t i on as n e eded a nd b y s uch a dd i t i o n a l me a s ur es as mi ght p rov e neces sary I h o pe that t his conc ept provide s a mut u a lly a ccep tab l e route t o a goa l t h a t all t he wo r l d s har e s I loo k f orward t o your r e s pon s e and t o wo r k i n g wi t h you in the c oming month s in a d vanci ng thi s mos t impo rt an t e ffor t Let me con c l u de by ag r e eing wi t h you t ha t we should wo r k co n s t r u c t ive l y b efore y our v i si t t o t he Uni ted State s to pre p a re c o n c r ete a g r e e me n t s o n t he f ull r ange of i s sues we d i s c u s s ed a t Geneva Neith e r of us has illusions about the ma j o r p r o b l ems wh i ch r e ma i n be t ween our t wo c ountr i es 8 but I want t o a s s u r e y o u th a t I am det ermi ned t o work with y o u energ etic ally in f i ndi n g pr actical s olutions t o those problems I agr ee with you t ha t we s h ou l d use o u r c o r re spond en c e as a most i mpo rtant c han n e l of communic ati on i n preparing f o r your visit Nan c y a n d I would like to extend t o you Mrs Gorb a cheva a nd y our famil y our b est wishes It is o u r h o pe that this y e a r will br ing s i g n i f ica n t progre ss t oward our mutual goal of building a b etter r e lationship betwe en ou r t wo countries and a s af er world His Ex c e l l e n cy Mikh ail Se r g e y evich Gorb a c hev Gene ral Se c r e t ary o f t h e Central Comm i t t e e of the Commu n ist Pa r t y o f t h e Soviet Union The Kreml in Ho s c ow