Shultz to Press Shevardnadze on Rights Issue

Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived here late Monday for his first look at new Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, a veteran Communist Party leader from Soviet Georgia known to most U.S. foreign policy-makers only by reputation and stern-looking photographs.

U.S. officials accompanying Shultz said the meetings with Shevardnadze may be acrimonious because the secretary plans to stress what the United States views as Moscow’s dismal record on human rights, an approach that usually puts the Soviets in a sour mood.

Although U.S. officials say Washington is ready for better relations with Moscow, they made it clear that Shultz did not come to Helsinki to make conciliatory gestures toward the Soviets.

Shultz, Shevardnadze and other European foreign ministers came here for ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki accords, formally known as the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The meeting will be the first high-level U.S.-Soviet contact since Shevardnadze was named foreign minister last month, succeeding Andrei A. Gromyko, who held the post for nearly three decades.

An Unknown Quantity

Shevardnadze, who had not been a key foreign policy specialist before his surprise appointment, is an unknown quantity to the State Department.

A senior American official, asked last week to assess the new foreign minister said: “I have no idea. We have the pictures, but we don’t have any sense of dimension. As you know, people sometimes come through a door and, with presence, completely belie the photograph, and without presence, give more to a picture than you might have expected. I think we’re all awaiting that moment.”

Shultz said he plans to use the opportunity to prepare for the scheduled summit meeting of President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Nov. 19 in Geneva.

Shultz and Shevardnadze have blocked out three hours for their meeting Wednesday. Both men are scheduled to address the anniversary session today.

U.S. officials say Shultz will stress U.S. charges of Soviet and Eastern European violations of human rights both in his public speech and in his meeting with Shevardnadze.

Mark Palmer, a top State Department specialist in Soviet relations, said: “Since Mr. Gorbachev took over as party leader, the situation with regard to human rights has continued to get worse. While there has been some expectation in the West that he will be a reformer, . . . thus far there has been no reform and certainly no liberalization.”