Shevardnadze, Shultz Clarify Their Positions

Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze discussed arms control and other pressing issues for more than four hours Wednesday, clearing away some misunderstandings but reaching no new agreements, participants in the talks said.

Shultz said neither side put new proposals on the table.

“We agreed we were looking for points of contact in our positions and areas of common understanding. We did not reach an agreement on any of these items. But we certainly did discuss each other’s positions with great care,” the secretary told reporters.

Atmosphere Good

Shultz and Shevardnadze both said the atmosphere of the talks was good. Another U.S. official said “the decibel level was lower” than it had been when Soviet President Andrei A. Gromyko was foreign minister.

Standing side by side outside the Soviet Mission to the United Nations, where the talks took place, Shultz and Shevardnadze both described the talks as “useful” and “frank.”

“It is common knowledge that frankness is a necessary precondition for establishing the truth,” the Soviet foreign minister said.

Shultz said: “Our capacity for conversation is very easy. . . . There were no particular new proposals put on the table but there was a thorough exchange of views. I think it was most worthwhile.”

In recent weeks, Soviet sources have floated several reports that Shevardnadze would propose radical reductions in the offensive nuclear armaments on both sides if the United States agreed to curtail its Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as “Star Wars.”

But a senior U.S. official who briefed reporters after the meeting said: “The Soviets shared no new proposals. Obviously they are the only ones who can say if they will do so later this week.”

Shevardnadze is scheduled to meet President Reagan on Friday at the White House and is expected to talk again with Shultz after that session.

It was the second formal meeting between Shultz and Shevardnadze, who succeeded Gromyko as foreign minister in July. White House national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane also participated in Wednesday’s discussion.

Easier to Deal With

Although U.S. officials said there were few major changes in Soviet positions since Shevardnadze assumed his post, all of them stressed that Shultz finds it easier to deal with Shevardnadze than he did with the dour Gromyko.

“What we are seeing is a different style--it seems to be more conversational,” a senior U.S. official said. “We don’t know yet what the significance of the change of style is.”

Review of Arms Talks

The official said most of the discussion was devoted to a thorough review of the three-pronged arms control talks under way in Geneva. He said it was the first time the two sides discussed the details of the negotiations at such a high political level.

“We hope we were able to clarify a number of matters that can lead to better progress in the negotiations themselves,” the official said.

For instance, he said, both Shultz and Shevardnadze described in detail their governments’ contrasting views on research on missile defense systems.

“There were several issues where they have been saying things, and we were able to ask questions about them,” the official said. “I now understand what they are saying. I didn’t agree with it.”

The meetings took place at the Soviet U.N. headquarters on a New York street recently renamed Sakharov-Bonner Corner, in honor of Soviet dissident Andrei D. Sakharov and his wife, Yelena Bonner, who are in internal exile in the Soviet city of Gorky.

Jewish worshipers marking the Yom Kippur holy day at the Park East Synagogue across the street from the mission watched Shultz come and go from the synagogue’s porch. They applauded the U.S. delegation warmly.

As Shultz entered the conference room, he passed under a bust of V.I. Lenin decorated with a bouquet of red carnations.

Shevardnadze greeted him warmly, apologizing for his failure to attend Shultz’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. He said he had “such a tight program” arranged by his staff that he was unable to get there.