Statement by Assistant
to the President for Press Relations Fitzwater on the Disposition of Nuclear
Weapons Deployed in the
As
you know, Chancellor Kohl has made a statement concerning the future status of
the German Pershing 1 - A missiles. We strongly support his reaffirmation that
the German Pershing 1 - A's have not been and will not be a matter for
discussion in U.S.-Soviet negotiations, which are bilateral.
We
have emphasized at the same time that the disposition of these missiles is a
matter for the Federal Republic of Germany to decide, in consultation with
NATO. We therefore understand and support the statement on future disposition
of the Pershing 1 - A's which was made today by the Chancellor. As we
understand it, the conditions for not modernizing and eventually dismantling
the Pershing 1 - A's include the following key elements:
-- U.S.-Soviet agreement on global elimination
of
-- resolution of
outstanding INF verification issues in a satisfactory way for all concerned;
-- ratification and
entry into force of the U.S.-Soviet INF agreement; and
-- actual elimination
of these
With
respect to nuclear forces of less than 500-kilometer range (SNF), I wish to
reaffirm U.S. support for the NATO position -- as reflected in the June 1987
NAC communique of NATO Foreign Ministers --
concerning the sequencing and priorities for negotiations beyond those
currently underway at Geneva. As the communique from
that meeting indicates and as the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in