NATO Stresses Defense Despite Soviet Reforms

VILAMOURA, Portugal —  NATO defense ministers today welcomed political reforms in the Soviet Union and parts of Eastern Europe but said the Western alliance will continue to need robust defenses, including a strong nuclear strategy.

At the end of a nuclear planning meeting, ministers said the Soviet Union retained awesome nuclear and conventional firepower, and they called on Moscow to slash its short-range nuclear forces in Europe by 1,300 missile launchers.

“We welcome the changes in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, and we are eager to address a range of issues with the Warsaw Pact,” U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told a closing news conference.

But he added: “We also think it is extremely important in this period of change that we maintain our military capability.”

“We must keep a coherent defense in this transition period,” NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner said.

The two-day meeting was dominated by discussion of the political changes in the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary and East Germany and progress toward an East-West agreement that will slash tanks and other military hardware in Europe.

In a final communique, the ministers welcomed the reforms and unilateral force cuts by the Warsaw Pact to date. But they said Moscow was still modernizing its long-range nuclear forces and continued to have massive superiority in short-range or battlefield nuclear weapons stationed in Eastern Europe.