Final Ceremony Shown Live on State-Run Television : Soviet Citizens Say They’re Happy With Talks

Soviet citizens, who got the rare opportunity Thursday to watch televised reports of the end of the Geneva summit, said they are happy that President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev talked with each other.

For weeks before the historic meeting, the state-run media warned the Soviet public that substantive agreement at Geneva would be elusive, especially since it would be the first meeting between the U.S. and Soviet leaders.

Still, the mood was expectant as people hovered around television screens to watch the unusual live coverage of the leaders’ joint appearance at the summit’s end and Gorbachev’s solo news conference.

Thursday’s broadcast first showed the two leaders seated on a stage chatting together in front of representatives of the world’s press.

Their statements were then transmitted in full, with Reagan’s, in English and clearly audible, simultaneously translated into Russian.

Glued to Her Television

One woman, who along with other Russian citizens asked that their names not be used, stayed glued to her television throughout the broadcast. She said the lesser accords announced in the joint U.S.-Soviet statement were all that she had expected.

“I know that some people who were watching carefully were awaiting a lot from this meeting,” she said.

“But most didn’t expect more from this meeting than what was said. They were just glad because they met on such a high level, because there had been no such meeting for a long time,” she added.

Another woman said that the meeting was a big step for the Soviet leader because it added to his prestige and that of the country.

“I’m impressed with the general secretary that he started at such a level because it is very difficult,” she said. “Now we feel some respect toward the Americans and we feel proud about our country too. We really want to be partners on the same level.”

Warming Trend on Reagan

Like Gorbachev, whose remarks after the meeting were of a conciliatory tone, some Soviets adopted a warmer attitude toward Reagan, despite being told almost daily that the American President wants to wage a space war against them.

“I think it’s not just because of the President that you have ‘Star Wars,’ it’s the people around him,” said an office worker, referring to Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative, a space-based missile defense system.

“I think to put everything on President Reagan would be wrong,” she said.

Only one person interviewed expressed disappointment in the summit’s outcome.

At the end of the joint news conference, when the delegations were threading their way off the stage, he sighed and shook his head.

“They didn’t really sign anything,” he said.