Secretary of State James A. Baker III on Saturday concluded a "trailblazing agreement" with the Soviet Union to destroy chemical weapons and settled long-smoldering disputes over limits on nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
"We have engaged in some heavy lifting," Baker said after four days of marathon talks that set the stage for this month's meeting between President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. "The progress we have made here makes me optimistic that we will have a productive summit in Washington."Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said the Moscow meetings gave him "confidence now that the treaty on strategic arms can be prepared for signature before the end of this year."
At the same time, a tired-looking Baker said before flying home that the two sides had made less progress than he had hoped toward a treaty to reduce troops, tanks and other non-nuclear arms in Europe.
Bush, speaking with reporters in Texas, gave the talks a "mixed review." (Story on A4.)
The agreement on chemical weapons, to be signed during the May 30-June 3 summit, is designed to show the way for some 40 nations negotiating a global ban on chemical weapons production in Geneva.
"Very simply put, this U.S.-Soviet accord is a trailblazing agreement," Baker said.
Baker said Bush and Gorbachev also will sign an agreement on verifying limits on underground nuclear test explosions conducted under 1974 and 1976 U.S.-Soviet treaties. The protocols call for on-site inspection.
Baker said the two sides were closer to a plan for elections in Afghanistan, which the Soviet Union invaded in 1979.
The agreement on air and sea-launched cruise missiles removes a major obstacle to a declaration to cut U.S. and Soviet long-range nuclear weapons by Bush and Gorbachev at their summit.
"We are now in a position to do so," Baker said, although he said some issues remained to be settled. They will be tackled by U.S. and Soviet negotiators beginning Sunday in Geneva, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) might be completed by the end of the year.
A summit declaration would point the way to an overall reduction of 30 percent to 35 percent in U.S. and Soviet long-range bombers, missiles and submarines.
Turning to Lithuania, Baker said the Soviets and the leaders of the breakaway Baltic republic were working harder to find a way to settle their dispute peacefully, "but they are not there yet."
Baker was euphoric in announcing the chemical weapons pact.
"We have reached agreement on a precedent-setting accord," he said. "I believe that this agreement is very significant, particularly as it provides a real pathway toward a global ban on horrific weapons that we already know from bitter experience actually get used."
Under the agreement to be signed at the summit, the two sides would immediately cease production of chemical weapons and destroy 80 percent of their stocks.
By the eighth year, both sides would have reduced their supplies further to 2 percent of the current level and two years after that they hope to destroy the rest, if all other countries capable of producing chemical weapons join them in a global ban, U.S. officials said.
The nuclear test accords have never been ratified by the Senate, and former President Ronald Reagan reported to Congress the Soviets may have exceeded the ceiling of 150 kilotons.
Shevardnadze and Baker said the U.S. and Soviet presidents also will issue a joint statement against the spread of nuclear and chemical arms.
Baker noted less progress than he hoped to complete a treaty on conventional forces in Europe. "We had come with ideas designed to push this process forward, but our counterparts apparently weren't able to respond meaningfully at this time," he said.
On Afghanistan, he said the United States and the Soviet Union were closer to developing a plan for free and fair elections - "the surest path to reconciliation, peace and legitimacy in that war-torn country."
Although Baker did not go into details, U.S. and Soviet officials have been mapping out a plan that would permit the Soviet-backed government in Kabul to try to retain a share of power in a transitional government, but President Najibullah and many of his key supporters would have to step down.
On human rights, Baker said he had registered his concern about anti-Semitism "and the vital need for the Soviet leadership to speak out strongly against it."
He said he was concerned, as well, over the refusal of authorities to grant exit permits to Jews on the ground they knew state secrets. According to U.S. officials, 12 of the 20 "refuseniks" Bush urged Gorbachev at the Malta summit last December to let go have not been given permits.