U.S., Russia agree to strengthen relations

Press, 16 May 1985, Page 6

U.S., Russia agree to strengthen relations

NZPA-AAP Vienna The United States Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz, and the Soviet Foreign Minister, Mr Andrei Gromyko, have agreed to strengthen the framework of Soviet-American relations, even though sharp disagreements remain on arms control, Central America and other issues, the “New York Times” reported yesterday. After an unusually long six-hour session at the Soviet Embassy in Vienna, the two sides seemed to be moving toward an announcement on a meeting later this year between President Reagan and the Soviet leader, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev.

At a briefing for reporters, three Americans who took part in this week’s talks repeatedly refused to comment on any question dealing with a Reagan-Gorbachev get-to-gether.

On Monday, Mr Shultz had said that an American invitation for a meeting in Washington was on the table and it was up to the Soviet Union to respond. Soviet authorities have said that Mr Gorbachev will

probably take part in the ceremonies later this year in New York marking the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr Vladimir Lomeiko, the Soviet spokesman, when asked if Messrs Shultz and Gromyko had discussed a date for a Reagan-Gorba-chev meeting, replied that “the position of the two sides upon this question is known.

“It was already made clear, earlier,” he said. “It was talked about. Both sides have expressed a certain interest.”

The Shultz-Gromyko meeting was the highestlevel Soviet-American conference since Mr Gorbachev took power two months ago, and it was viewed by American officials as particularly important in assessing the prospects for Soviet-American relations now that Mr Gorbachev is solidifying his rule. According to Mr Shultz, the discussions “were useful, and they were comprehensive, and they were detailed”. Mr Lomeiko said “the discussions were necessary and useful”. At the press briefing, Mr Shultz made a

brief statement summing up the talks.

Mr Lomeiko followed with a more detailed rundown, emphasising that Mr Gromyko had criticised at length the American position at the Geneva arms control talks and American policies in Central America, southern Africa and the Middle East. Mr Lomeiko said that in their discussion of “bilateral relations,” Messrs Shultz and Gromyko had “emphasized their intention to undertake everything possible to build up the structure of their mutual relations and to fill them with concrete substance".

Mr Shultz, who apparently angered Mr Gromyko by raising United States human rights concerns, including the fate of Andrei Sakharov, the physicist and dissident, said that in bilateral relations “some progress can be made”.

Mr Lomeiko acknowledged that Mr Shultz had raised the case of Mr Sakharov, who is living in forced exile in the city of Gorki.

He said that Mr Gromyko had told Mr Shultz that this was an internal Soviet matter and that “the Soviet

Union does not discuss with anyone questions dealing with internal affairs”.

There had been expectations that the Soviet side would use the meeting to draw attention to its unhappiness with the refusal of the United States to negotiate a curb on research on military weapons in space, the so-called “Star Wars” system.

At a Shultz-Gromyko meeting in Geneva last January, the two sides agreed that they would seek to halt the arms race on Earth and to prevent one in space and to negotiate reductions in strategic and medium-range nuclear arms.

At the Geneva talks, the Soviet side has interpreted this to mean that there can be no cuts in nuclear arms until there is a curb on space-weapons research. The United States, asserting that such research must continue, has criticised the Russians for not negotiating curbs on nuclear weapons. Mr Lomeiko said that Mr Gromyko had blamed the United States for tensions in the world and said that the United States was failing to “strictly adhere” to last January’s agreement.