armed forces and armaments of both sides in Central Europe and are ready to make larger reductions of troops than the United States. In the broader context, too, the Soviet Union is in favour of urgently taking steps to end the build-up and qualitative upgrading of conventional weapons, primarily by nuclear-weapon States and the military alliances to which they belong. To this end we are prepared to reach agreement on a programme of practical measures that would include freezing the level of conventional weapons and armed forces, banning the development of new types of conventional weapons whose destructive power is comparable to that of mass destruction weapons and, subsequently, substantial reductions of armed forces and conventional weapons. The goal of limiting and ending the arms race also calls for a practical approach to curbing the arms race in the seas and oceans, and specifically for starting negotiations on this subject with the participation of all major naval Powers and other interested States. Serious consideration of this question in the United Nations Disarmament Commission could contribute to this. Now, after the publication of a study of this problem by a group of experts on naval armaments, any JVM/9 A/C.l/40/PV.S 32 (Mr. Petrovsky, USSR) further delay in starting talks on this issue would be even less justified. I should like to stress at this session that we continue to regard as extremely important the goal of eliminating foreign military presence and, above all, foreign military bases on foreign territories. We consider that establishing some form of contacts between the warsaw Treaty and the North Atlantic Alliance as organizations should not forever be taboo, which is true also, and even more so, of overcoming in the more or less foreseeable future the division of Europe into two 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be a diplomatic statement or a proposal for international relations, focusing on military disarmament, arms control, and reducing tensions between nations. The language used is formal and diplomatic, indicating a high-level discussion or agreement among nations.

**Category**
International relations, Security