Reagan pipeline offer puzzles West Germans

West German officials Tuesday welcomed President Reagan's conditional offer to lift sanctions against the Soviet-Western European natural gas pipeline, but added that they were not sure what it means.

Mr. Reagan said he was willing to drop the sanctions if European allies agreed on alternative ways of penalizing Moscow for its role in Poland. Chancellor Helmut Kohl's new center-right government is committed to fulfilling pipeline contracts despite the sanctions, and last week it pledged to expand trade ties with the Soviet Union.