Allies Endorse U.S. Arms Stand : Summit Backs Geneva Proposals, Opposes Embargo on Nicaragua

The seven-nation economic summit on Friday strongly endorsed President Reagan’s position on arms control talks with the Soviet Union but expressed unyielding opposition to his controversial trade embargo of Nicaragua.

Leaders of the other summit nations, responding to Reagan’s personal urging, commended the United States for its “positive proposals” at the arms talks in Geneva and urged the Soviet Union to “act positively and constructively in order to achieve significant agreements.”

Reagan was described by aides as extremely pleased with the endorsement of his arms control stand, which was contained in a “political declaration” that the summit adopted to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The host for the summit, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, took the lead in persuading the other summit participants--from Canada, Japan, Italy, France, Britain and the European Economic Community--to voice support for the U.S. position.

Reconciliation Stressed

The political document, which emphasizes peace and reconciliation between the Western allies and the two summit nations who fought them in World War II, West Germany and Japan, contained no reference to Nicaragua.

Nor does it mention another controversial subject--Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, the “Star Wars” research program that the President is promoting to develop a space-based defense against nuclear missiles.

But behind closed doors some leaders discussed both subjects at length and condemned the trade embargo, expressing fears that it will drive Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government into closer relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union.

Administration officials said that they had not asked for support on either issue, but that several of the summit leaders had expressed an interest in participating in the “Star Wars” program even though the program was not mentioned in the political document. However, the foreign ministers of the seven nations, meeting in Bonn in a pre-summit session, were unable to agree on a unified stand on “Star Wars,” so there was no chance of including a statement on that issue in the declaration.

‘Don’t Think as We Do’

Secretary of State George P. Shultz and other American officials stressed Friday that Europeans are against the Nicaragua embargo because they are philosophically opposed to the use of trade sanctions in diplomacy. Europeans “don’t think as we do about using economic sanctions as a tool,” Shultz told reporters.

But a general distaste for U.S. Central American policy, sharpened by Reagan’s decision to announce the embargo in Bonn on the eve of the economic summit rather than in the United States, also has figured in European opposition.

The political declaration, largely the work of Chancellor Kohl, was released here on the eve of the final session of the three-day summit. The leaders will release a communique on economic issues at their final session today.

May 8 Anniversary

Initially, Kohl had hoped that the summit and the document he drafted would set the tone for a celebration of reconciliation as West Germany approaches May 8, the anniversary of V-E Day--the day World War II ended in Europe 40 years ago and Germany began what has been an unending debate over whether the Allies conquered them or liberated them from their Nazi rulers.

But the summit and the political declaration, as well as V-E Day commemorations, have been overshadowed by controversies over the Nicaragua trade embargo and Reagan’s planned visit Sunday to Bitburg military cemetery, where 49 Nazi Waffen SS troopers are buried.

Kohl has praised Reagan for his courage in sticking to his plan to visit the cemetery despite an almost-unprecedented outcry of protest in the United States from Jewish and other religious groups and veterans organizations, as well as opposition to the visit by huge majorities of the House and Senate.

When Reagan got his first look at Kohl’s proposed political declaration last week before leaving Washington, it contained no mention of the U.S. stand on arms control although it supported “endeavors to strengthen the peace and enhance deterrence through the negotiation of meaningful reductions in existing levels of nuclear arms, limitations on conventional arms, the banning of chemical weapons and lessening the risk of conflict.”

So the President, according to a senior Reagan Administration official, “emphasized the need to achieve a positive endorsement of our efforts in Geneva” and the matter was taken up with West German officials.

“The Germans . . . took the lead in pushing for a strong endorsement,” the official said.

A West German official told reporters that the Europeans viewed the endorsement as “a gesture to the Americans” because the summit leaders had been unable to agree on a statement on “Star Wars.”

Division Deplored

In the political declaration, the leaders “deplore the division of Europe” that dates from the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II and express their hope for “a state of peace in Europe in which the German people will regain its unity through self-determination.” They pledged to “seek by peaceful means to lower the barriers that have risen in Europe.”

The leaders also said they hope that “a political environment will be created which permits” the reunification and freedom of South Korea and North Korea.

They pledged to abide by the U.N. Charter, which recognizes that countries have a joint responsibility to maintain international peace and security and to refrain from the threat and the use of force.

“We for our part share a determination to preserve the peace while protecting our democratic freedoms,” they said. “To that end, each of us will work to maintain and strengthen a stable military balance at the lowest possible levels of forces, neither seeking superiority for ourselves nor neglecting our defenses.”

Market Praised

With Spain and Portugal scheduled to join the 10-nation European Community soon, the summit leaders referred to the community as “the embodiment of reconciliation and common purpose” and declared that it “is growing in membership, strength and prosperity.”

And with the nations of “the dynamic Pacific region” drawing closer together, they continued, the partnership of North America, Europe and Japan “is a guarantee of peace and stability in the world.”

The summit leaders, although they made no mention of the Holocaust that claimed the lives of 6 million Jews in World War II, declared that they “remember in grief all those who lost their lives” during the war, “whether by acts of war or as victims of humanity, repression and tyranny.”

“We acknowledge the duty we owe to their memories and to all those who follow after them, to uphold peace, freedom and justice in our countries and in the world.”