THE SUMMIT AT GENEVA : Peace Stressed at ‘Tea Summit’ : No ‘Style Wars,’ Nancy Reagan Says

At the second “tea summit” Wednesday, Raisa Gorbachev said that she and Nancy Reagan--both said to be highly influential with their husbands--will try to further the cause of peace.

As the two posed for photographers before tea at the Soviet Mission, Mrs. Gorbachev, the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, was asked what the Soviet and American first ladies could do together to promote peace.

“All we can do, we shall do,” replied Mrs. Gorbachev, looking more comfortable than she had when Mrs. Reagan hosted a tea for her Tuesday. That was the first meeting of American and Soviet first ladies in 11 years.

For her part, Mrs. Reagan dismissed the idea of a “Style Wars” between herself and Mrs. Gorbachev--a competition of fashion and style--as “a little silly.”

“I mean, there are very important things being discussed here, and what somebody wears or doesn’t wear really isn’t terribly important,” Mrs. Reagan said.

The two women held hands as photographers snapped away at them in the freezing cold outside the Soviet Mission. Then Mrs. Gorbachev quickly took Mrs. Reagan inside, saying to the journalists, “We don’t have much time, and we have things of substance to discuss.” Asked what she was referring to, Mrs. Gorbachev replied, “I cannot tell you that now because it’s up to Mrs. Reagan.”

Earlier in the day, both women participated in a ground-breaking ceremony for an International Red Cross Museum, to be opened in 1988. Mrs. Gorbachev arrived first, in the same fur-trimmed gray coat she had worn when she arrived in Geneva three days ago. Although Mrs. Gorbachev was criticized by the French fashion press for wearing the same outfits twice on a visit to Paris last month, she seemed to be thumbing her nose at them by doing it again here.

Wearing exclusively grays, browns and blacks, and using ensembles more than once, Mrs. Gorbachev, a professor of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, seemed to be saying she would meet the West halfway--she would be fashionable but not frivolous.

She dresses stylishly and even sported dangling, diamond earrings on Tuesday. But Mrs. Gorbachev does not pretend to be pursuing the kind of Western, ultra-high-fashion style that has been second nature to Nancy Reagan for decades.

For Western Eyes

Mrs. Gorbachev, a petite, auburn-haired women, is the most visible Soviet first lady in history, but that visibility has been almost entirely for Western eyes. Although she has been here with her husband since Monday and maintained a heavy schedule of her own cultural and social events, her name was not mentioned in the Soviet press in connection with the summit until Wednesday, in a report on the ground-breaking ceremony on state-run television.

It is believed to be the first time her name ever has been mentioned on Soviet television.

Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, ran a photograph of her as the Gorbachevs left Moscow for Geneva, but the caption identified only her husband and Politburo members and lumped everyone else together as “friends and comrades.”

Mrs. Reagan arrived at the ground-breaking ceremony about five minutes after Mrs. Gorbachev in a stunning, red Galanos coat with a tucked back, a double-breasted front, flared skirt and huge, Dolman sleeves.

Someone forgot to tell her Mrs. Gorbachev was there, and she chatted with some other people before reporters pointed Mrs. Gorbachev out to her. Seeing her, Mrs. Reagan immediately rushed over to her and shook hands, as other participants applauded. Mrs. Gorbachev took her arm as they posed for pictures.

Both the women gave speeches at the ceremony, Mrs. Reagan looking down at her notes almost the entire time while Mrs. Gorbachev looked down only occasionally, seeming to have memorized it.

Mrs. Reagan said: “All nationalities will come to this quiet hill together to learn what has and can be done--together. Today, as we have unveiled the cornerstone, let’s keep one goal alive in our hearts--the welfare of humanity.”

Mrs. Gorbachev, speaking slowly and pausing often, said: “People can have and do have different outlooks, but we really must find a common language when life, health and the future of mankind are at stake. Our country, my motherland, has rendered and will be rendering all-round assistance to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross.”

The two women, along with Swiss First Lady Ursula Furgler, signed English, Russian and Swiss translations of a message to put in a time capsule that was buried in the cornerstone. The message extolled the Red Cross’s contribution to peace.

At the end of the ceremony, the women paused for a torrent of picture-snapping, which finally prompted Mrs. Gorbachev--who is seldom exposed to that kind of press scrutiny--to roll her eyes skyward.

To Other Events

After the museum ceremony, the women scattered to separate events before meeting again for their late afternoon tea.

Mrs. Reagan viewed a modern sculpture at the U.S. Mission that was dedicated to her in the name of peace in 1982.

“I’ve never had a statue named after me before,” she told more than 100 mission employees who had awaited her brief visit.

Next Mrs. Reagan visited the College du Leman, an international school of 800 children from more than 80 countries. The children cheered wildly as she arrived and departed and sang to her. Eleven-year-old Carey Shaffer of Los Angeles recited a poem she had written entitled, “The Wish,” about all children growing up healthy and strong.