When is an arms cutoff not an arms cutoff? That was the riddle confronting Washington last week as it pondered what could be the final obstacle in talks on a Soviet pullout from Afghanistan. The trouble stems from a U.S. demand that Moscow end all military aid to the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul once Washington stops sending weapons to the mujahedin. Moscow refused to go along, and Washington offered a compromise: the U.S. will allow the Soviets to keep supplying Kabul if Moscow allows Washington to continue arming the rebels.
Soviet Foreign Ministry Spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov called the novel approach "unacceptable,"...