US rejects Soviet proposal for missile cut in Europe

The United States Wednesday bluntly rejected new Soviet proposals on limiting medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, declaring they were unacceptable as a basis for arms control.

Moscow's proposal called for a two-thirds reduction in the Western and Soviet medium-range missiles by 1990. The USSR maintains that East and West forces are roughly equal, a position disputed by Washington.

Western experts say the Soviet plan for mutual reduction is unacceptable because the Soviets already have a 3-to-1 advantage in theater nuclear weapons.