Advises Colleague on Press : Reagan as Host Takes Charge in First Gorbachev Meeting

President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev appeared to get along fine as they plunged into their two-day summit today--at least for the cameras and after some initial jockeying for position.

Reagan even took it upon himself to advise Gorbachev on how to respond to reporters seeking to question them. “We don’t have to stop,” Reagan told him as he greeted the Soviet leader at the start of their afternoon session.

Reagan, the host, arrived first at 9:45 a.m. at the Villa Fleur d’Eau. The 74-year-old President was hatless in the sub-freezing temperatures and biting wind, but was initially wearing a topcoat and light yellow scarf.

However, when Gorbachev arrived 15 minutes later, Reagan emerged from the chateau without the topcoat and scarf, a fact remarked on by the 54-year-old Gorbachev, who was wearing a hat, topcoat and scarf.

There appeared to be some competition over who would be seen as taking charge in the initial greeting, with Reagan getting the better of it.

As Gorbachev’s limousine pulled up, Reagan strode briskly down the 11 steps of the front porch to greet him. Gorbachev hurried forward, removing his hat somewhat awkwardly with one hand as he extended his other for a greeting.

The two shook hands at the bottom of the steps and then Reagan took Gorbachev’s left elbow in his right hand and escorted him up the steps to the porch where they stood for another minute posing for photographers.