Gorbachev Seems Tense in Rare TV Appearance

In the first televised interview a Soviet leader has given Westerners in at least a decade, Mikhail S. Gorbachev appeared tense and subdued Tuesday as he answered questions from French journalists on the eve of his visit to Paris.

He delivered a 20-minute address to the French people, then joined three journalists from the French television network TF-1 in an ornate Kremlin reception room for another 45 minutes of questions and answers. The broadcast was also shown throughout the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev said the threat of nuclear conflict is growing but he appeared to hold out hope of new Soviet-American agreements to reduce the risk of war. He also turned aside suggestions that the Soviet human rights record is less than perfect.

Gorbachev is due to arrive here today for four days of meetings with President Francois Mitterrand and other French officials in his first trip to the West as Soviet leader.

The red hammer-and-sickle banners of the Soviet Union flew beside the French tricolor along the Champs Elysees on Tuesday as Mitterrand prepared to welcome Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa.

Demonstrators protesting the Soviet human rights record took to the streets of Paris in the evening, but the French government has banned demonstrations during the time Gorbachev is in Paris. He will leave Saturday.

Diplomatic observers expect him to use the opportunity to strengthen Soviet ties with an American ally and to forcefully present Moscow’s case against the American “Star Wars” space missile defense program as part of the preliminary skirmishing before the Geneva summit with President Reagan in November.

But a spokesman for Mitterrand said the French government’s position on the issue would not change one way or the other because of Gorbachev’s arguments.

However, Mitterrand’s independent line was emphasized Tuesday when his office announced that he will not go to New York in late October for a meeting with Reagan and heads of five other industrialized nations. The White House announced Monday that Reagan had invited the six leaders to meet him for a discussion of the issues he expects to take up with Gorbachev.

Diplomats in Moscow were surprised at Gorbachev’s general lack of spontaneity and forcefulness during the interview. “He warmed up a little after awhile,” one said, “but his gestures were all out of ‘synch’ with his words, and he said very little of substance.”

Speaking slowly and shifting frequently in his seat, Gorbachev repeated standard Soviet assertions, in unusually mild terms, that Moscow is ready to accept “radical solutions” in arms control and “prefers the non-militarization of space.”

He declined to comment on new Soviet arms control proposals contained in a letter delivered to Reagan last week. But he indicated that progress in arms control is possible, saying, “We believe that it is possible to diminish the forces that lead to war.”

Gorbachev bristled only once, when he was asked about Jewish emigration and about the condition of Andrei D. Sakharov, the dissident physicist held in internal Soviet exile, and of Anatoly Shcharansky, the imprisoned human rights activist.

He gave the standard Soviet reply that these are internal matters.

Robert Gillette reported from Moscow and William J. Eaton from Paris.