‘Spy Dust’ Impact on Summit Doubted

The “spy dust” furor will not affect the scheduled November summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev as far as the United States is concerned, Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block said Sunday.

Arriving here for a weeklong good-will visit, Block sounded a conciliatory note after a week of heated charges and countercharges by the United States and the Soviet Union. He appealed for “mutual restraint” by Washington and Moscow to advance what he described as Reagan’s desire for a “more productive dialogue” with the Kremlin.

U.S. officials made toughly worded statements in the wake of the State Department’s accusation Wednesday that the Soviet secret police have used a potentially cancer-causing chemical powder, nicknamed “spy dust,” to help monitor the movements of U.S. diplomats in Moscow. The Soviets angrily denied the changes.

Earlier, the Kremlin charged that the President’s decisions to conduct an anti-satellite test and to continue nuclear weapons testing, despite a Soviet call for a freeze on nuclear testing, were provoking a new arms race.

Block’s arrival statement appeared to play down suggestions by White House spokesmen that the “spy dust” issue might be raised by Reagan when he meets Gorbachev in Geneva Nov. 19-20.

‘Expressed Our Objection’

“We expressed our objection, and we assume that proper action will be taken,” Block told reporters at Moscow’s Sheremetevo Airport, indicating that the United States may be ready to drop public discussion of the issue.

Although his trip is primarily ceremonial, Block did not hesitate over his reply when a reporter asked him about the effect that the “spy dust” controversy might have on the summit.

His Soviet host, Agriculture Minister Valentin K. Mesyats, beamed with pleasure as he listened to Block’s remarks. And when it was his turn to speak, Mesyats turned to Block and said, “You’ve already said everything.”

Block said that Soviet-American cooperation on agriculture is increasing and could be a model for relations in other areas. His trip, he said, is a demonstration of Reagan’s desire for a better dialogue with the Soviet Union.

“Being realistic, we recognize there are longstanding differences between us, and the only way to make progress is by mutual restraint in the pursuit of our dialogue,” Block said. “We believe that the overall (Soviet-American) relationship . . . will be moving forward as we get closer to the summit.”

Block is returning Mesyats’ visit to the United States last year when, among other things, the Soviet official visited the Block family pig farm near Galesburg, Ill.

Block and his delegation, including representatives of leading farm producers’ organizations, will tour parts of the Ukraine and Kazakhstan and visit Leningrad.

Block said that, under terms of an agricultural exchange agreement signed last spring, the first U.S. team of experts is already in the Soviet Union, studying the spring wheat crop.