Greek Leader Hopes to Meet Chernenko

Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou arrived Monday for his first official visit to the Soviet Union, and Greek aides said they expect him to meet today with Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko.

If the meeting takes place, it would be Chernenko’s first public appearance in more than six weeks and would provide fresh indications on the state of his health.

Soviet officials have acknowledged that the 73-year-old Chernenko has been ill recently, but he was reported back at work last week for the first time since Dec. 27.

Warm Welcome

Papandreou, the Socialist premier who has annoyed the United States by criticizing it on some major foreign policy issues, was warmly welcomed by the Kremlin.

Speaking at a banquet in his honor, the Greek leader said that his nation’s closer ties with the Soviet Union have helped reduce international tension.

Greece, while a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has decided to boycott NATO military maneuvers and opposes deployment of U.S. missiles in Europe. It also is committed to closing U.S. bases in Greece and, in the long run, wants to withdraw from NATO and create a nuclear-free zone in the Balkans.

Soviet Premier Nikolai A. Tikhonov said in a speech that Greece and the Soviet Union have taken positions that were close together “on the major questions of preventing war and strengthening peace.” The Soviet media have described Greek foreign policy as “peace-loving,” a form of praise usually reserved for Moscow’s Warsaw Pact allies or nonaligned nations.

Replying to Tikhonov, Papandreou said, “The development and activation of our relations . . . and our corresponding views on many international problems, all directed at reducing tension, strengthen the cause of peace.”

Geneva Talks

Papandreou welcomed the Soviet-American agreement to hold arms control talks in Geneva next month, adding: “We expect the Geneva negotiations to continue in good faith, and would like to believe that the international community will be kept informed of their progress. . . .

“You, the two participants, have the onerous advantage of shouldering responsibilities which go beyond the boundaries of your two great countries,” he said.

Greece’s efforts to promote world peace, he said, “are independent of any economic or defense blocs.” Papandreou referred to a nuclear freeze proposal that he and the leaders of five other nations advanced during a recent meeting in New Delhi.