Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev unveiled a major plan Thursday to rid the Baltic area of nuclear weapons, including removing four nuclear-armed submarines.
In a goodwill gesture to northern Europe, the Kremlin chief said the Soviet Union has removed all tactical nuclear missiles that could strike the region and will take certain types of sea-launched nuclear weapons out of the Baltic Sea.He made these announcements in remarks prepared for delivery to 1,500 Finnish politicians, businessmen and other invited guests.
Gorbachev said the steps were being taken unilaterally and that they were a follow-up to a speech he gave two years ago in the Soviet port of Murmansk. Many of his proposals in that speech - including a call for a nuclear-free zone in northern Europe - were dismissed by NATO.
In Washington, a Bush administration official called the proposal "another step toward their goal of getting nuclear weapons out of Europe - primarily ours."
The official added: "It is a way to increase pressure on us . . . It's another case where Gorbachev is playing to the larger audience."
Thursday, Gorbachev met with Prime Minister Harri Holkeri to explore several Soviet-Finnish projects. The Soviet delegation is to sign more than 30 agreements for joint businesses, development projects and environmental control.
Finnish newspapers lauded Gorbachev's unequivocal recognition of Finnish neutrality, which in previous Soviet statements had been couched in qualifications.
The neutrality issue strikes a sensitive chord in Finland, which often has been accused of being under Moscow's thumb.