May 21, 1985
Today the President met with Ambassador Robert Blackwill, who will serve as the new U.S.
Representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) talks in Vienna, which
reconvene this week. The U.S. delegation in Vienna together with those of our NATO allies are
seeking to reach an equitable and verifiable agreement with the Warsaw Pact on the reduction to
equal levels of conventional force manpower in central Europe. Such an agreement would
enhance stability and security, reduce the risk of war, and promote mutual confidence in Europe.
The President expressed his continuing interest in and support for efforts in the MBFR
negotiations.
Ambassador Blackwill's work in Vienna will go hand in hand with U.S. participation in other
negotiations that seek to promote security and stability. In Geneva, the United States next week
will return for a second round of negotiations with the Soviet Union on nuclear and space arms in
an effort to enhance stability and eliminate entirely the risk of nuclear war. Also in Geneva, the
United States has submitted to the 40-nation Disarmament Conference a draft treaty for the
complete and verifiable prohibition of chemical weapons. And in Stockholm at the Conference on
Confidence and Security Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe (CDE), the NATO
alliance is actively seeking agreement on concrete measures to reduce the risks of surprise attack
in Europe.
The President urged Ambassador Blackwill, together with his Western colleagues in Vienna, to
probe for all possible areas of agreement in order to achieve concrete results, noting that if the
Soviet Union and its partners show a similar degree of willingness to find mutually acceptable
solutions to the difficult issues on the table, progress in MBFR will be possible.