Excerpts From an Interview With European Journalists on Soviet-United
States Relations
Q.
Mr. President, I am privileged to start off, and of course, we all have heard
word from
The President. Well, I'm hopeful, of
course. They have said they want such a thing and agreed to it -- and to be
held here in this country -- but so far have not set a date. So, I'll remain
hopeful that we can have it, yes. I understand there was some progress made,
however, in the talks on the intermediate-range weapon agreement.
Q.
Mr. President, do you think that the setback in
The President. I have to believe that
there is an effort being made on their part as well as ours to make the cold
war a little warmer in the right way. Let's say a little less cold, but also a
little less war.
Q.
Mr. President, the sticking point seems to be SDI. And are you prepared to make
an adjustment in your position in order to achieve an agreement on the
strategic -- --
The President. No, I have said from
the beginning that this world, which has no defense against nuclear weapons --
the only so-called defense is the MAD policy, and it truly is MAD: Mutual
Assured Destruction. And I have spoken to several parliaments throughout the
world and legislatures and in each one of them have said that I don't believe a
nuclear war can be won and it must not be fought. And recently, [Soviet]
Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, here in this room, repeated those words to me as
being his own belief: that it can't be won and shouldn't be fought. So, I
cannot make that a bargaining chip. We have the prospect of a defensive system that
could practically make nuclear missiles obsolete. And I have said over and over
again that if and when we have such a system we wouldn't use that for our
advantage offensively against any other nation.
Note: The interview
began at