Kremlin declares it wants to avoid confrontation

Press, 22 January 1982, Page 6

Kremlin declares it wants to avoid confrontation

NZPA • Moscow In what appeared to be a carefully timed signal to the Reagan' Administration, the Soviet Prime Minister (Mr Nikolai Tikhonov) said yesterday that the Soviet Union “does'not seek confrontation" with the United States and is doing all it can “to direct the course of events into constructive dialogue."

The Prime Minister’s remarks on Soviet-American relations, made at a Kremlin luncheon, were the first that any top Kremlin leader has made on the subject since the Polish military crackdown last month deepened the existing chill between Washington and Moscow. The remarks contrasted strongly with the tone of recent Soviet propaganda, which has accused the Reagan Administration of pushing the world towards war.

Western diplomats in Moscow believed that the speech was delivered with an eye to the meeting in Geneva next Wednesday between the Soviet Foreign Minister (Mr Andrei Gromyko) and the American Secretary of State (Mr Alexander Haig). The meeting, the first high-level Soviet-American encounter since the two men met in New York in September, is

expected to cover a range of issues on which the two governments are sharply opposed. including Poland and nuclear arms. The 76-year-old Soviet Prime Minister spoke at a function for a visiting Angolan delegation, but a large proportion of the speech appeared to be directed to the United States and its allies in Western Europe. The Kremlin's desire to have the speech noted in the West was reflected by the swiftness with which the official news agency. Tass. distributed the full text in English, two hours before it was printed in Russian. The apparent effort to improve the atmosphere for the Haig-Gromyko talks was coupled with a strong measure of condemnation for the Reagan Administration, which Mr Tikhonov accused of "intensifying the arms race" and “'aggravating the international situation." among other things by "attempts to interfere in the internal affairs and to declare an economic blockade of Poland." The Prime Minister also offered a warning that the Soviet Union would respond in kind if its overtures to a dialogue were rebuffed.

"Those who prefer the language of threats and demonstrations of strength to a peaceful dialogue should understand that we will take all the necessary measures to ensure our. security and the security of our allies and friends.” he said. But what attracted most attention among diplomats were Mr Tikhonov's more conciliatory remarks. "The Soviet Union." he said, "is not seeking confrontation with any Western country, including the United States of America. As in the past, we are doing everything we can to direct thecourse of events into the channel of constructive dialogue." The Prime Minister said this had been "exactly the aim" of the Kremlin's "new foreign policy initiatives." including proposals put forward by the Soviet Communist Party leader and President (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) during a visit to West Germany in November.

The centrepiece of the proposals was Mr Brezhnev's call for a “moratorium" on the deployment of new Soviet and American medium-range nuclear missiles. preparatory to an agreement at negotiations in

Geneva in which, he said, the Kremlin would be prepared to reduce its medium-range nuclear armoury "not by dozens but by hundreds of units."

Mr Brezhnev's proposal and one by President Reagan urging the Russians to dismantle all their mediumrange rockets in return for agreement by the Western alliance not to proceed with the deployment in Europe of a new generation of American missiles were placed on the table when the talks on the issue opened in Geneva on November 30.

There appears to have been little movement since, but Mr Tikhonov, in his speech, appeared to be saying that both sides should compromise so as to reach an agreement that could lead on to accommodations on other arms matters.

“In our opinion, the talks that have started in Geneva create a possibility for making a step, that is so important now. in solving the entire set of questions of arms limitations and disarmament." he said. "All that is needed for the successful conduct of the talks is recognition of the principle of equality and equal security."