GORBACHEV HINTS AFGHANISTAN SHIFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302440012-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2012
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: November 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/01: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302440012-9
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WASHINGTON POST
25 November 1985
Gorbachev Hints
Afghanistan Shift
Shultz Cautious on Prospects
By John if. PAIR
*ashinattoo Poet Staff Writer
Secretary of State George P. Shultz said yester-
day that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave hints
at the Geneva summit of greater Soviet willingness
to negotiate the withdrawal of its forces from Af-
ghanistan.
But Shultz added that it is too early to say wheth-
er it will be possible to find a political solution to the
six-year-old Afghan war that has caused heavy ca-
sualties among the 115,000 Soviet troops engaged
in an effort to quell stubborn resistance by Afghan
guerrillas.
Shultz said Gorbachev "at least to my ear. . . had
some interesting and a little bit different kinds of
things to say.*
He stressed that "I'd like to study it more care-
fully," and he reiterated the U.S. view that "the prin-
cipal thing is addressing the problem of Soviet
troops in Afghanistan and their withdrawal. It's the
key."
The United Stated has backed U.N.-sponsored
talks that have been trying to find a basis for, a ne-
gotiated settlement involving Soviet withdrawal,
setting up a neutralist government in Kabul and per-
mitting the return home of thousands of Afghans
who have fled into neighboring Pakistan.
Shultz, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," de-
nied that the United States had made commitments
to the Soviets before or during the summit that it
would continue indefinitely to observe the provisions
of the unratified 1979 strategic arms-limitation
agreement known as SALT II.
Shultz said there has been no change from the
policy enunciated by President Reagan last June. At
that time, the president said the United States would
continue to refrain from undercutting the treaty pro-
visions but would reserve the right to change that
policy if it decides that the Soviets are not complying
with SALT II restraints or not bargaining in good
faith at the Geneva arms-control talks.
SALT II is due to expire Dec. 31, and the Soviets
had proposed that the two governments extend their
voluntary compliance another year. However, Wash-
ington, which has accused Moscow of several viola-
tions, refused to make such a fixed commitment.
"The president has it under review, and if he
makes a change, that will be announced," Shultz said.
There has been strong disagreement between
Shultz, who favors continuing the no-undercut pol-
icy, and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger,
who has advocated that it be abandoned. Reagan's
national security affairs adviser, Robert C. McFar-
lane, has said that a decision is expected sometime in
December.
Shultz also rejected the notion that the failure of
the summit to produce substantive agreements on
reducing nuclear weapons has put pressure on Rea-
gan and Gorbachev to reach an arms-control accord
when they meet here next year. At future summits,
Shultz said, "We will have the same approach . . .
that if there is an agreement to be found that is in
the interest of the United States to make, we're
quite ready to make it; and if there isn't, no amount
of deadlining will cause the president to make one."
Shultz, without saying so explicitly, reinforced
Realtan's remarks Saturday that the ad-ministratiun
favors resumption of covert aid to Angola's UNITA
insurgents, -led by Jonas. Savimbi, who have been
figng for years against the_linclig_Angiga
ernment suQpot?y Cuba an adlIEM?et Union.
Reagan made the remarks in an interview with ed-
itors and columnists.
Covert aid is a sensitive issue in Congress, which
is considering legislation to permit overt assistance
to Savimbi's forces. But Shultz answered-"yes" when
he was asked yesterday if the administration would
ask Congress to vote against overt aid in Angola.
The administration is known to believe that a covert
aid program would be more effective in forcing the
Angolan government to negotiate with UNITA.
"First of all, we support the freedom fighting of
Jonas Savimbi and UNITA," he said. "Second, we
want to support their efforts in a way that's effec-
tive. Third, we believe that if there can be a political
solution, a negotiated solution to the problems of
Angola . . . linked as it is to the difficulties in south-
ern Africa generally, that's the way to go.' And we're
trying to do that."
A questioner asked what Gorbachev should think
about Reagan's action, in the immediate aftermath
of the summit, in advocating secret American help
for insurgents battling a Soviet-backed regime.
Shultz replied:
"He is supposed to think that the United States
will support people who fight for freedom, and we
will try to figure out how to support them in a way
that will be effective. And I hope he has that mes-
sage. And I'm sure he does."
! Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/01: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302440012-9