Zimbabwe Leader Discusses Arms With Soviets

Prime Minister Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe said Wednesday that he has discussed with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev the possibility of obtaining Soviet military aid for Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, the next leader of the so-called nonaligned movement, said at a press conference that his government’s views and those of the Soviet government have become “very much closer” as a result of his visit to Moscow--his first.

“Our friendship will last forever,” he said.

Mugabe denounced President Reagan’s policy of “constructive engagement” in South Africa, which emphasizes diplomatic dialogue over economic sanctions to bring about change in the white minority government’s system of racial segregation.

“It’s deceitful, it’s dishonest and it’s hypocritical,” Mugabe said of the Reagan Administration approach.

Mugabe recently visited the United States, which provides about $60 million a year in economic aid to Zimbabwe.

Agreements Signed

While in Moscow, he signed agreements on economic and technical cooperation that he said will provide the framework for specific projects to be worked out later. Military cooperation, he said with a smile, was discussed “in general terms,” without any definite result.

“If any (military aid) agreements are going to be reached, they will have to be worked out by Soviet-Zimbabwean teams,” he said.

Mugabe said he is concerned about a possible attack by South Africa, which recently accused Zimbabwe of harboring guerrilla forces that make cross-border raids into South Africa.

“We can’t just lie low and say this is an empty threat,” he said. “We are preparing to defend ourselves against South Africa.”

The Soviet Union has been trying to improve relations with Mugabe’s government. There has been a strain because Moscow backed Mugabe’s chief rival, Joshua Nkomo, in the guerrilla struggle against white minority rule in Rhodesia, the breakaway British colony that became independent Zimbabwe in 1980.

Mugabe’s photograph and biography have been displayed on the front pages of Pravda and Izvestia, the major national newspapers here, and his visit has been a prominent feature of television news shows.

Soviet Premier Nikolai I. Ryzhkov reflected the new amity between the two governments at a Kremlin banquet for Mugabe, praising Mugabe as a champion of peace. In reply, Mugabe said his country’s relations with Moscow are now excellent.

‘Inspiration, Guidance’

“We of the young Republic of Zimbabwe,” Mugabe said, “look to the Soviet Union and other socialist countries for example, inspiration and indeed guidance.”

The Soviet news agency Tass said that Mugabe’s talk with Gorbachev took place in a “warm and friendly atmosphere,” and that discussions with other Kremlin officials were marked by a “spirit of mutual understanding.”

At his news conference, Mugabe extolled his Soviet hosts and added, “We feel extremely gratified and satisfied that the discussions we had were very fruitful. . . . We are closer, very much closer now in our ideas, in the rapport we have created and in our assessment of issues than we were yesterday.”

He mentioned agriculture, mining and trade as possible areas of Soviet-Zimbabwean cooperation in the future.