World Notes ARMS CONTROL

The two new chief negotiators seemed almost chummy when the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks resumed in Geneva last week. U.S. envoy Richard Burt joked about the danger of falling asleep due to jet lag, and his Soviet counterpart, Yuri Nazarkin, quipped that he had not yet mastered the jargon of arms control. Then, as talks progressed, Burt put forth a surprising proposal that threatened to sour the mood.

The U.S. insisted that unprecedented U.S. inspections of Soviet nuclear weaponry -- to test techniques for monitoring Moscow's compliance with the proposed START accord -- take place even before any such treaty is completed. Secretary of State James Baker defended the proposal, contending that an early understanding on verification might make an arms-reduction pact with the Soviets easier to sell to Congress.

The Soviets had no immediate response. But U.S. critics promptly charged that the Bush Administration was avoiding tough questions, like whether to scrap the Star Wars antimissile system, and deliberately delaying a START agreement. The Administration, warned Senator Joseph Biden, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, may have committed a "major blunder."