U.S., Soviet Chiefs of Staff Plan Steps to Avoid Incidents
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WASHINGTON — The top military officers of the United States and the Soviet Union agreed today to take steps to avoid dangerous military incidents between the superpowers.
Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, the visiting chief of staff of the Soviet armed forces, and Adm. William J. Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a statement after a Pentagon news conference saying they intend to pursue policies to avoid such incidents.
The two officers said they intend to establish a joint military group to recommend ways to avoid military incidents that could escalate to crisis proportions and would institute the training needed to meet this goal.
In June, the Soviets apologized for the March 24, 1985, killing of U.S. Army Lt. Col. Arthur Nicholson, who was shot by a Soviet soldier in East Germany while he was a member of a two-man patrol of a U.S. military liaison team.
In December, the Pentagon also accused two Soviet warships of deliberately bumping U.S. Navy ships in international waters in the Black Sea near the Soviet coast. The Soviets blamed the Navy.
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