Gorbachev Hardens Line on ‘Star Wars’

A week after the Geneva summit with President Reagan, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev took a harder line on U.S.-Soviet relations today and said radical cuts in nuclear weapons are impossible unless the superpowers “slam shut the door” on space weapons.

Gorbachev said the United States is trying to gain military superiority and that Reagan’s refusal to halt “Star Wars” research has blocked any arms control agreement at the Geneva arms negotiations.

“It is absolutely essential to slam shut the door through which weapons could get into outer space,” Gorbachev said. “Without this, radical reductions in nuclear armaments are impossible.”

But the 54-year-old Communist Party leader said, “We have every right to say that the total balance sheet in Geneva is positive.”

‘Significant Event’

Speaking to the 1,500 deputies of the Supreme Soviet at the close of the Parliament’s fall session, Gorbachev said the two-day summit was “undoubtedly a significant event.”

He said the Soviet leadership appreciates “the personal contacts established with the President of the United States.”

His assessment of the U.S. position, however, was more harsh than statements he made at a news conference in Geneva a week ago, when he stressed the positive side of his talks with Reagan and their efforts to improve U.S.-Soviet relations.

“The U.S. Administration that took power in the early 1980s adopted a course of confrontation and rejected the course of cooperation,” Gorbachev said. He added that, “ ‘Star Wars’ became a signal of alarm throughout our planet.”

Agreement Blocked

He stressed the Soviet position that the issue of space weapons has prevented an agreement to reduce nuclear arsenals.

He said American negotiators in Geneva introduced new proposals on the eve of the summit, “which is a positive event in itself.” But, he added, “They are one-sided and are dictated by the desire to achieve military superiority for the United States and NATO as a whole. The main thing is the United States does not envision a ban on space strike weapons.

“On the contrary, the American attitude toward ‘Star Wars’ is the main obstacle to an agreement on arms control.”

Gorbachev said he told Reagan that efforts to keep arms out of space were the “main thrust” of the Geneva summit, but that the Americans refused to relinquish the project. He said he also warned the President that the Soviet Union would match any space weaponry developed by the Pentagon.