Soviet Union: Fighting Words

Brezhnev attacks the U.S.

He looked pale and weak as he stood at the lectern, but Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, 75, was obviously still very much in charge. Standing behind him were senior members of the ruling Politburo, including Konstantin Chernenko, 71, and Yuri Andropov, 68, the two favorites in the battle to succeed him, and Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov. In the audience were several hundred defense ministry officials and military officers who had flown in from all over the country and even from fleets at sea. Although Brezhnev's speech was frequently slurred, a result of his illness, he did not mince words in his address last week. American "adventurism, rudeness and undisguised egoism," he declared, threatened to "push the world into the flames of a nuclear war."

Brezhnev charged that Washington had "unfolded an unprecedented arms race, especially a nuclear arms race." He deplored "practical preparations" under way in Europe for the deployment of U.S. medium-range nuclear missiles in NATO countries, and hinted that Moscow might have to revise its decision, announced last March, to freeze unilaterally the deployment of its own new SS-20 missiles targeted on Western Europe. In view of the strains in the Soviet-U.S. relationship, Brezhnev said, it was important for the Soviet Union to normalize relations with China "and we are doing everything in our power toward this end."

The blunt talk, in the view of U.S. diplomats, did not signal a fundamental change in the Kremlin's attitude toward the U.S. Instead, Brezhnev's message seemed to be tailored for his military audience, and may have been a concerted effort to reassure the Soviet defense establishment that the civilian leadership would not be one-upped by the Reagan Administration's increases in U.S. defense spending. Said William Hyland, a noted Kremlinologist: "It is as if Brezhnev were saying to the armed forces, 'I'm still in charge. I'm not dead yet. I'm here with my team.' "

Western diplomats believe the unusual session may have been called to help set up an occasion where major differences of opinion could be aired before they could affect the looming struggle over Brezhnev's successor. In recent months, there have been indications that some elements in the military have not been pleased with certain policy decisions. Some generals, for example, reportedly disapproved of Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko's statement to the United Nations last summer that the Soviet Union would not be the first country to use nuclear weapons.

In response to these fears, Brezhnev said the Kremlin planned to improve the Soviet Union's combat readiness "in all respects," including technology. Says Hyland: "Brezhnev told the military leaders he understood their problems and concerns. But he was also telling them they had to support the Brezhnev conduct of foreign and domestic policy."