‘Tea Summitry’ Serious, First Ladies Insist

Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev held their second “tea summit” today, saying they had “things of substance” to discuss and brushing aside assertions that their meetings focused on such “silly” matters as clothes or fashion.

After Mrs. Reagan came to the Soviet mission and was greeted by Mrs. Gorbachev, a reporter asked the U.S. First Lady if she felt she was competing with her Soviet counterpart in a “style war.”

“No, and I really think that’s a little silly,” Mrs. Reagan replied. “I mean, there are very important things being discussed here and what somebody wears or doesn’t wear isn’t really terribly important.”

‘Not Much Time’

For her part, Mrs. Gorbachev tried to speed up the picture-taking by telling reporters, “We don’t have much time and we have things of substance to discuss.”

Their comments came amid a flap over remarks by White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, who told a reporter that most women will not understand weighty issues like arms control that are being discussed at the summit, and that they will prefer to read about the activities of the first ladies. (Story, Page 2.)

As she sat next to Mrs. Reagan on the same gold sofa in the Soviet mission, Mrs. Gorbachev was asked what she and the American First Lady could do together to promote world peace.

Will Do ‘All We Can’

“All we can do, we shall do,” Mrs. Gorbachev said in Russian. Her remarks were translated by an interpreter.

The two women spent 50 minutes--five minutes more than scheduled--chatting, drinking tea with honey and sampling Russian specialties like blini with caviar and cabbage and berry pies, said Elaine Crispen, Nancy’s press secretary.

Earlier in the day, the two women put a joint message in the cornerstone of a new Red Cross Museum expressing hope for “peace and harmony for all mankind.”

The two first ladies were joined by Ursula Furgler, wife of Swiss President Kurt Furgler. They put identical messages, in English, French and Russian, in a metal time capsule, which was then placed in the museum’s cornerstone and cemented over.

Mrs. Gorbachev warmly greeted Mrs. Reagan, putting her arm around the First Lady’s back as they posed for pictures.