U.S., Soviets to Confer on Far East Issues

A U.S. delegation will travel to Moscow this week for high-level talks on potential trouble spots in the Far East, the State Department said Saturday.

The meetings will be held Thursday and Friday, department spokeswoman Anita Stockman said.

The three-member U.S. delegation will be headed by Paul D. Wolfowitz, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Soviet group by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail S. Kapitsa, who is in charge of Asian affairs, she said.

“The aim of the discussions is to reduce tensions in the area, the Far East. These discussions follow previous talks with the Soviets held in February, May and June on the Middle East, Afghanistan and southern Africa,” Stockman said.

She said she did not know specifically which countries would be discussed. However, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported in Sunday editions that Korea and Indochina will be among the areas discussed.

The Reagan Administration has been seeking full-scale talks on Asia with the Soviets since 1981 because of continued tensions posed by Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia, officials told the New York Times, which said Wolfowitz will urge the Soviets to use their influence with the Vietnamese to start negotiations aimed at ending the occupation.

He also will discuss the Administration’s concern over what it believes is a buildup of Soviet weapons in the Far East, according to both the Times and the Post.

The talks were suggested by Secretary of State George P. Shultz during his meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze last month in Helsinki, the two newspapers quoted State Department officials as saying.

“Our main philosophy is that it is helpful to be as clear as possible about one another’s position toward situations which could lead to wider conflicts and that a clear understanding of our positions will help to avoid additional crises,” a senior department official told the New York Times.

Wolfowitz will not be negotiating to solve any specific problems, a senior official said. But, he added, “Obviously, if a clear and forceful exposition of our position can move things forward in a positive direction, we’ll welcome it.”