MOSCOW Reuter: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev praised the nonaligned movement today as an irreplaceable factor in international affairs and said Moscow would always seek friendly relations with its members.
In a message to Prime Minister Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who is hosting a nonaligned conference starting in Harare Gorbachev said Moscow did not want the movement to be viewed through the prism of east west confrontation.
The nonaligned movement has become an irreplaceable factor in international relations and an influential political force of our age he said in the message released by the official news agency TASS.
The development of friendship and cooperation with these countries will always be for the Soviet Union one of the more important aspects of its foreign policy Gorbachev said.
He said the Soviet Union was sure all participants at the nonaligned conference would appreciate the extension of Moscow’s unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests until January 1 next year.
The Soviet Union regarded the nonaligned movement as “a strong force standing in opposition to war and aggression imperialism colonialism and racism Gorbachev said.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 5, 1986
