UN General Assembly
1988

Last year the world was at one in welcoming the signing between the United States and the Soviet Union of a Treaty on the elimination of their intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear forces - the INF Treat/. It did so because of the promise the Treaty held for the future. Insignificant as it was in terms of the numerical count of the warheads covered, the Treaty was applauded for Its political value. It was judged to be important in enabling the two super-Powers to cross an important psychological barrier. The Treaty demonstrated that, given political will, it is possible not only to halt the arms race but also, in a sense, to begin the process of reversing it. Given the optimism generated by the INF Treaty, much was expected of tee Moscow summit meeting. But despite what was obviously a favourable political climate It proved impossible to expand on the gains of the Washington summit meeting and agree on more concrete and substantial reductions. № note none the less that there was an expression of commitment want to a 50-per-cent reduction in strategic offensive systems and to the negotiation of a nuclear test-ban regime - even though on a phased approach, ,a urge the two super-Powers to take advantage of the current political warmth to negotiate deeper cuts and to broaden the scope of their negotiations to cover other areas.