Reagan Names 3-Man Team for Arms Talks

President Reagan named three “tough-minded patriots” Friday to take charge of U.S. negotiations with the Soviet Union on offensive nuclear weapons and missile defense systems.

Max Kampelman, a conservative Democrat, was named to head the American delegation and to also conduct the discussion of Reagan’s “Star Wars” program and Soviet defense systems.

Former Sen. John Tower, a Texas Republican who championed U.S. weapons development as chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, will negotiate for reductions in strategic--or long-range--bombers, missiles and submarines. Tower did not run for reelection in November.

Troop Talks Negotiator The third member of the team, which Secretary of State George P. Shultz described as “pro-American and pro-our allies,” is Maynard W. Glitman. Currently the U.S. representative in the stalled talks on ground troops in Central Europe, he will direct the bargaining on intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

While Glitman participated in past talks on those weapons, sometimes known as Euromissiles, he and the others are relatively inexperienced in nuclear weapons bargaining. Nonetheless, Shultz defended the appointments as “an absolutely terrific slate.”

Shultz said Tower, for instance, “has spent his Senate career on matters dealing with defense and security, and knows the subject inside-out.”

Reagan, in a statement read by Shultz at the White House announcement, called the three new negotiators “distinguished” and “highly capable Americans.”

Paul H. Nitze and Edward L. Rowny, who were the chief U.S. negotiators until now, will serve as special advisers to Reagan and Shultz, the statement said.

The role of Kenneth N. Adelman, who is director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, was not made clear, although Shultz said he, too, will be part of “the process.”

Shultz said that Reagan will make the decisions, adding, “Everything is revolving around him.”

The agreement that Shultz worked out in Geneva with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko a week and a half ago provides for the resumption of the negotiations on offensive weapons. Those talks broke down more than 13 months ago.

At the same time, the two sides also agreed to discuss defensive weapons and installations, including Reagan’s $26-billion “Star Wars” initiative, which aims at finding a way to shield the United States from attacking missiles.

Administration officials disclosed earlier Friday that U.S. and Soviet officials have held discussions on a date and a location for the negotiations.

Richard R. Burt, assistant secretary of state for European affairs, called in Viktor F. Isakov, minister-counselor at the Soviet Embassy, on Wednesday to propose that the talks be held promptly in Geneva, an official said.

“We are waiting for their response,” he went on. “At this point, we don’t anticipate any problem.”

A State Department spokesman, Alan Romberg, confirmed that “we are discussing the question in diplomatic channels” but refused to provide any details.

During their two-day meeting in Geneva, Shultz proposed that they set a date and site for the talks, but Gromyko declined. Instead, they agreed to consult here and in Moscow and provided a 30-day period to reach a decision.

The Administration wants to begin quickly. Shultz views the resumption of weapons-limitation talks as the first step in a wider U.S.-Soviet dialogue. He is known to be considering a visit to Moscow sometime after the talks are resumed.

Meanwhile, Gromyko told visiting Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) in the Soviet capital on Thursday that he hopes U.S. negotiators will move to quickly consider “concrete proposals” when the two sides meet.

The two governments are headed toward the bargaining table with divergent objectives. The principal U.S. aim is to sharply reduce heavy Soviet land-based missiles, while the Soviets want to stop the U.S. search for an anti-missile system.

Shultz and Gromyko agreed in a joint statement in Geneva, however, that “preventing an arms race in space and terminating it on Earth” is a shared goal.