U.S. Talks, Doesn’t Act, for Peace--Gorbachev : Kremlin Chief Hits American ‘Demagoguery’ but Praises Reagan’s Reaction to Soviet Arms Bid

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, slapping the table to make his point, accused American leaders Friday of “political demagoguery” for talking about peace but taking no concrete steps toward achieving it.

But the Soviet leader quickly backed down when asked if he had President Reagan in mind.

Making it clear he did not want to poison the atmosphere before his Nov. 19-20 summit meeting with the President in Geneva, Gorbachev praised Reagan for offering “a very serious response” to the latest Soviet arms control proposals rather than “the stereotyped answers that our proposals were propaganda.”

Rare News Conference

Gorbachev’s outburst and then change of mood came at a rare joint news conference with French President Francois Mitterrand on the day before the end of the Soviet leader’s official visit to France, his first to the West since taking power in March. He spoke in Russian to a huge contingent of American, European and Soviet correspondents, and his answers were translated into French and English.

Gorbachev received both a rebuff and an important endorsement from Mitterrand, who sat at his side during the news conference in an ornate reception room of the Elysees presidential palace.

Mitterrand rejected Gorbachev’s surprise proposal that their countries hold separate arms control talks to limit the size of the French nuclear arsenal. The proposal, which came in Gorbachev’s speech to a French parliamentary committee Thursday, also included a Soviet bid to start similar talks with Britain.

After the rebuff on arms talks, however, Mitterrand announced his support of Gorbachev’s views on space-based nuclear defense systems, agreeing that there can be no substantial arms control accord between the superpowers unless President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative--commonly called “Stars Wars”--is abandoned.

The news conference was dominated by the sometimes charming, sometimes testy Gorbachev, who gestured frequently and turned aside pointed questions on human rights. Although both leaders were there to answer questions, most were directed at Gorbachev.

Midway through the 105-minute session, Gorbachev turned to Mitterrand and suggested that he take a turn answering the next question. Mitterrand smiled and shook his head, “They see me more often than you.”

Winning French support for the Soviet position against Star Wars had obviously been a major aim of Gorbachev’s four-day visit. Mitterrand has never hidden his dislike for the $26-billion research program into space-based defenses against nuclear missiles. Despite this, he rejected a Soviet suggestion that he sign a joint communique on the issue.

Satisfying the Soviets

At the news conference, however, Mitterrand went a long way toward satisfying the Soviets, who have coupled their formal proposal for a 50% reduction in U.S. and Soviet strategic weapons capable of reaching each other’s territory with a call for a complete ban on the development and deployment of space weapons.

That proposal, first conveyed to President Reagan last week by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, was presented this week at the Geneva arms control talks and discussed in detail by Gorbachev on Thursday.

Commenting on the prospects for the Geneva negotiations, Mitterrand said that “a considerable reduction in armaments cannot come about unless the transfer of weapons from earth to space is made impossible.”

But, he continued: “It is up to the interested countries, the United States and the Soviet Union, to debate this. They have the means and the experts to compare what is comparable and to answer what is answerable. They have in their hands all that is necessary to advance negotiations at Geneva.”

On the issue of French nuclear weapons, Mitterrand insisted that France does not have a large enough arsenal to make limitations feasible. “There is actually nothing to discuss,” he said. “France does not refuse an exchange of views with the Soviet Union, but I do not think that it would be reasonable to think that there could be a negotiation.”

French Nuclear Arsenal

France’s small nuclear force includes 18 ground-based missiles and a fleet of bombers, but is centered on six submarines that can launch 176 missiles. In the past, the Soviets have insisted that both French and British nuclear weapons should be counted alongside U.S.-made missiles deployed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as part of the same arsenal in Europe. The United States rejects that position.

Gorbachev appeared in a lecturing mood when he discussed the attitude of some American officials who have voiced skepticism about the Soviet proposal for a 50% reduction in strategic weapons.

“It’s time to take concrete steps,” he said, hitting the table he shared with Mitterrand. “We have now got to the point where it is not enough to say, ‘Yes, we are in favor of a better world.’ If this is not borne out by deeds, then we in the Soviet Union call this political demagoguery. We believe that (it) is tricking the people to adopt this sort of attitude.”

Gorbachev, in reply to questions, offered some more details about his proposals.

On Thursday, he announced that the Soviet Union had unilaterally reduced the number of its SS-20 medium-range nuclear missiles targeted on Western Europe, a move apparently aimed at influencing a forthcoming decision by the Dutch government on whether to accept a NATO consignment of U.S. cruise missiles on its territory.

Western arms specialists have said that the Soviet missiles moved out of the European theater could easily be redeployed or moved to the Asian part of the Soviet Union, but Gorbachev dismissed that idea as “not serious.”

‘All We Need’

“We have all the missiles we need in Asia to balance those of the United States,” he said, adding that no more would be deployed there.

But once more, Gorbachev said that any hopes for arms controls depend on U.S. abandonment of Reagan’s “Star Wars” research program. “This would be a new stage in the arms race,” Gorbachev said. “I do not know if we would be able to engage in negotiations. How would we approach them? Everyone should understand this.”

Asked about the recent tit-for-tat expulsions of Soviet and British personnel accused of spying in London and Moscow, Gorbachev again slapped the table and said, “Embassies have always carried out normal intelligence-gathering missions.”

Spoiling Relations

“If someone wants to spoil international relations, that undermines the forces of detente,” he said, apparently a reference to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

After the news conference, the 54-year-old Gorbachev, who leaves Paris today, continued his busy schedule, touring an auto factory in the suburb of Poissy and then visiting the Lenin Museum at the Paris house where V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution, once lived in exile.

At the Peugeot auto factory, the Soviet leader got behind the steering wheel of a silver Turbot model and tried the controls. He donned a pair of wrap-around plastic safety glasses to tour the assembly line, accompanied by French Trade Minister Edith Cresson.

Gorbachev was shown robotized welding machines but seemed more interested in questioning blue-coated workers about their pay and living standards. “I’ve never met the No. 1 in France, but now I have met the No. 1 Soviet,” said Claude Bechiau, 35, foreman of the chassis section. “It really surprised me.”