Reagan Sees ‘Hostile’ Soviet Intent but Will Seek Change

President Reagan over the weekend accused the Soviets Union of “hostile intent” but said that he wants to “eliminate the hostilities and suspicion” between Washington and Moscow.

There is “no question that the Soviet Union has made it plain that they are embarked on an expansionist program,” the President said. “They believe in the one-world Communist state, the world of revolution.”

But he said that this attitude may be based on “their fear and suspicion that the rest of us in the world mean them harm.” Reagan hopes, he said, to use his summit meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in November as a forum in which to “present evidence to show that we have no such intention.”

Reagan made these comments in one of three separate radio interviews that he conducted Saturday. The interviews were not scheduled to be made public until today, but news agencies obtained copies of the one that he gave to Washington Broadcast News. These were the first interviews granted by Reagan during a three-week vacation, which he devoted mostly to convalescence from cancer surgery.

In the interview with Washington Broadcast News, which supplies taped interviews and other material to broadcasters, Reagan also said that he will not decide whether to veto pending legislation imposing sanctions on South Africa until he sees the form in which the bill is finally approved by Congress. But he added that he is “basically opposed to the idea of punitive sanctions,” because he fears they would “hurt the very people we want to help.”

Similarly, the President indicated that he is leaning against going along with congressional and shoe-industry demands that he restrain footwear imports.

With imports comprising 75% of U.S. shoe sales, the issue is being closely watched as a test of how tough the Administration plans to be on trade questions, which it will confront this fall when congressional sentiment is expected to become increasingly protectionist.

The Washington Post and CBS News reported over the weekend that the Administration already has opted against tariffs or quotas on shoes, but White House spokesman Albert R. Brashear insisted Sunday that no decision has been made.