Geneva Arms Talks to Open as Planned Today Despite Death

GENEVA — The new round of nuclear arms control talks between the United States and the Soviet Union will open as planned here this morning despite the death of Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko.

Ambassador Max M. Kampelman, chief American negotiator for the talks, sent word to the Soviet delegation early Monday that, under the circumstances, if the Soviets wished to postpone the opening of the negotiations, the United States would certainly understand. However, Chernenko’s death had long been anticipated and the Soviets appeared eager to emphasize that it will be business as usual.

Arrangements to go ahead with the opening as planned were completed at a meeting of the executive secretaries of the two delegations. Warren Zimmerman, a career diplomat and former minister at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, represented the United States, and Vladimir G. Alexandrov spoke for the Soviet Union. Today’s meeting will be held at the offices of the Soviet mission to the United Nations here.

Later, American delegation spokesman Joseph F. Lehman said the first session is likely to be largely a “get-acquainted meeting” for the delegation heads, with the first substantive business probably taking place Thursday at the second meeting.

Allies Are Briefed

In Brussels, meanwhile, the United States told its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies that the Soviets have continued their buildup of SS-20 missiles, one of the three types of nuclear weapons that the new negotiations will seek to reduce.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard R. Burt also said the United States will “take the initiative” in seeking deep cuts in offensive nuclear weapons, including the intermediate-range SS-20s that are targeted mainly on Europe, to prevent Moscow from using the weapons to drive a wedge between the United States and its allies on the continent.

The Americans expect the first round of the talks to last three to five weeks. After that, the pattern probably will be eight weeks of negotiating in Geneva followed by breaks of about eight weeks in home capitals for analysis and preparation of further proposals and positions.

“There really was no reason why Chernenko’s death should affect the start of the talks, since the Soviets are undoubtedly working on instructions that were finalized and approved days, if not weeks, ago,” a member of the American delegation said. “It will be a long time before any leadership changes in Moscow are likely to reflect in what happens here in Geneva.”

No One Had to Leave

None of the top Soviet negotiators are members of the Communist Party Central Committee, and, apparently for this reason, none was required to return to Moscow for the Chernenko funeral and the formalities of approving the new Soviet leadership.

In Brussels, Burt alluded to the deaths of three Soviet leaders in less than three years, telling a news conference: “We have gotten used to these events. Our approach is that the Soviet leadership has been capable of carrying on business” during transition periods, and the United States “will not change its strategy of seeking early agreements” at the arms talks.

At the opening meeting of the negotiators today, Viktor P. Karpov, the 56-year-old head of the Soviet delegation, will be in the chair opposite Kampelman. Karpov also will be handling the specific talks on strategic nuclear weapons when the negotiations get under way.

Yuli A. Kvitsinsky, former Soviet negotiator on intermediate-range nuclear missiles, will handle the talks on space weaponry and research on space-based defenses against nuclear missiles. Alexi A. Obukhov will be handling the negotiations for the Soviets on the intermediate-range missiles.

Kampelman will be accompanied to the opening meeting by the two other U.S. negotiators: former Sen. John G. Tower (R-Tex.), who is handling the strategic arms discussions, and career diplomat Maynard W. Glitman, who is in charge of the talks on intermediate-range missiles. Kampelman himself will be in charge of the negotiations on space weaponry.

To Brief Lawmakers

Kampelman will also hold briefings today for separate American congressional delegations from the Senate and the House of Representatives who flew to Geneva to observe the opening of the resumed negotiations.

Burt flew to Brussels from Geneva with Kampelman, Tower and Glitman, and each man briefed members of the North Atlantic Council on the negotiations he is handling.

Later, Burt and Glitman briefed NATO members in more detail on the intermediate-range arms talks, an issue of great interest and anxiety here. NATO is to be consulted on these negotiations, while it is only to be kept informed of developments in the space and intercontinental arms forums.

The council later expressed its appreciation of U.S. consultations and its hope for substantive progress in all three sets of talks. This was interpreted here as a relatively tepid endorsement of the U.S. position in the talks, however, probably reflecting European concern over the space-based defense research. The United States intends only to explain the initiative to the Soviets, not to discuss any limitations on it.

The current number of three-warhead SS-20s now in the Soviet Union is 414, Burt said, as a result of a steady growth over the last year. At the end of 1984, the number stood at 278, of which 243 were in the European part of the Soviet Union and the other 135 beyond the Ural Mountains in Siberia and the Far East.

Bases Converted

Burt refused to disclose where the new missiles are based, but he suggested that they are in the Asian part of the Soviet Union. He said some older SS-20 bases in the European part of the country were being converted to take other types of missiles, with the SS-20s being shifted eastward. There had been reliable reports that the older SS-20 bases have been equipped to house new SS-25 intercontinental missiles that are capable of hitting targets in the United States.

Burt accused the Soviets of undertaking an apparent “peace offensive” that focuses criticism on space-based defense research with the intention of driving “wedges in the alliance.” He implied that the Kremlin intends to offer to trade deep cuts in numbers of SS-20s for U.S. concessions in space arms.

While Burt indicated that Washington would push new proposals in both intermediate and intercontinental offensive arms with equal vigor, his focus on the intermediate-range nuclear forces suggested that the greatest attention will be directed there.

Equal Warhead Ceilings

He recalled the U.S. position in the intermediate-range missile talks before the Soviets walked out in November, 1983. At that time, the main part of the U.S. stance was a demand for equal warhead ceilings between U.S. and Soviet forces.

The United States now has about 109 single-warhead Pershing 2 and cruise missiles in European nations and a total of 572 is scheduled for deployment before 1988. This is in contrast to the 414 three-warhead SS-20s already deployed by the Soviets.

While there will be room for negotiation involving Soviet missiles in the Far East and U.S. nuclear-capable aircraft in and around Europe, there is considerable doubt that the Soviets will ever accept equal ceilings on missile warheads in Europe.

As a result, sources said, U.S. negotiators have considered equal percentage reductions in mid-range forces on both sides. With the Soviets having more missiles to start with, they would have more missiles in the end as well, under this scheme.

U.S. negotiators will not raise this idea with their Soviet counterparts in the talks here, at least initially, but might turn to it later if necessary, sources said.

Times reporter Robert C. Toth in Brussels contributed to this story.