Gorbachev Visits France, Urges Return to Detente

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in France today on his first trip to the West since he took office in March and said he hoped the visit will help lead to a return to detente.

Gorbachev was greeted by President Francois Mitterrand when he arrived to a state welcome in warm sunshine at Orly Airport.

In an exchange of addresses after the inspection of an honor guard, Mitterrand said France recognizes the Soviet Union as a fundamental element in the balance of the world and has always sought dialogue with Moscow “provided the conditions allowed it.”

Gorbachev said he hoped that his visit would give impetus to further fruitful relations and reinforce “mutual understanding between East and West.”

The Soviet Union is ready for constructive dialogue, he said, “in the search for a return to detente, preventing an arms race in space and ceasing it on Earth. We want to oppose the logic of understanding to the anti-logic of confrontation.”

The Soviet leader’s wife, Raisa, wearing a gray tailored suit, was welcomed warmly by Mitterrand and his wife, Danielle. The two women sat on gilded chairs clutching bouquets of flowers as their husbands spoke.

In his welcoming words, Mitterrand made an oblique allusion to the killing of a Soviet diplomat in Lebanon, saying the world was balanced between hope and uncertainty and was too often prey to conflicts which “strike at human dignities and which today struck at a man.”

Gorbachev, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and First Deputy Premier Ivan Arkhipov, drove to his guest residence through streets lined by Soviet and French flags, with heavy security forces lining the route.

The two leaders were to meet later in the day for a first two-hour round of talks at the Elysee Palace.