Nitze Will Not Lead New U.S. Weapons Talks

Veteran negotiator Paul H. Nitze said Monday that he will not head the U.S. delegation to any new arms control discussions with the Soviet Union that flow out of next week’s Geneva talks.

It had been widely believed that Nitze would be the future U.S. negotiator because of his appointment Dec. 5 as special adviser to Secretary of State George P. Shultz in connection with the Geneva talks. However, Nitze said in a telephone interview that he had made it clear from the first that his role will be limited to the advisory one he already has accepted.

Nitze gave no reason for declining to take the reins in what may be a complex, difficult and lengthy set of Soviet-American negotiations. Other officials said they believe that family members’ health played a role in his decision.

Nitze’s prominent role had been hailed by arms control advocates in recent weeks as a sign of the Administration’s seriousness in seeking to forge agreements with the Kremlin. A U.S. official dealing with global strategy for more than 30 years, Nitze, 77, has a reputation as a conservative who is also inclined to flexibility, as a “problem solver” when agreement seems possible.

There has been no formal discussion in interagency groups of who, if not Nitze, would lead the U.S. negotiating team, according to an Administration official. One reason is that Washington does not know whether the three related issues up for bargaining--strategic offensive arms, intermediate-range offensive arms and defensive arms--will be consolidated into a single set of talks or divided.

Shultz’s scheduled meetings in Geneva next Monday and Tuesday with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko are aimed at working out the framework and forum for future full-scale negotiations, as well as an understanding on subjects and objectives.

Administration officials accompanying President Reagan in Palm Springs said they hope that the Shultz-Gromyko talks lead to two sets of arms control negotiations beginning as early as March--one set on defensive weapons and another on offensive weapons, in effect, merging talks on intercontinental nuclear missiles and on intermediate-range missiles.