Soviets ‘Have Plenty of Good Will’ for Accords on Arms if U.S. Makes Concessions, Pravda Says

The Communist Party daily Pravda, declaring “we have plenty of good will,” said Friday that the Soviet Union is willing to reach agreements at U.S.-Soviet arms talks in Geneva next week--if the Americans are willing to make concessions.

An unsigned page-one editorial in the authoritative newspaper reinforced the main themes of the Kremlin’s public stand toward the Geneva meeting, stressing space weapons as being of “prime significance” and trying to place the responsibility for easing world tensions on the United States.

“Now, when we are on the eve of a meeting of high-ranking representatives of the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. in Geneva, peace-loving people have the right to expect that the American side will assume a constructive, realistic position,” Pravda said.

The editorial began with a harsh attack on U.S. foreign policy, saying “people are watching with alarm the dangerous policy of aggressive quarters of imperialism, U.S. imperialism above all, which counts on further intensification of the arms race.

“Historical experience teaches that it is necessary to fight war before it starts,” it said.

U. S. Responsibility

But Pravda again sought to shift onto Washington the responsibility for progress at the meeting next Monday and Tuesday between Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko and Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

“The businesslike, specific proposals of the U.S.S.R. form a realistic program for ridding the European nations and the whole of mankind of the threat of nuclear war,” the editorial said.

“The Soviet Union clearly sees what an important meaning the correction of Soviet-American relations has for the whole world,” Pravda said.

It added: “We have plenty of good will, desire to cooperate on an honest, equal basis. These are the business of the American side.”

On Thursday, the ruling Politburo met at the Kremlin to prepare for the Geneva meeting, and other Soviet media warned that placing weapons in space could impede future negotiations.

In a commentary appearing in the Soviet government newspaper Izvestia, analyst Valentin Falin said that if the “U.S. decision to introduce armaments into space is final, one cannot expect a quick pace for (new) talks, if they start at all.”

Falin said that successful talks require “not only polite words (and) tact . . . but also readiness, shown in actions, to not create additional obstacles in the path of accords.”

But the article said “reports” from the United States indicate that the Reagan Administration is not committed to the so-called umbrella approach to arms talks and “intends to reject” the Soviet-proposed moratorium on testing and deployment of space weapons.

“That would mean the talks and the arms race should be held simultaneously and subject to the American course of military domination,” Falin said. “We will soon find out if these reports are accurate.”