Soviets Denounce Reagan While Allowing Kennedy to Give TV Talk

The Soviet media gave Sen. Edward M. Kennedy an apparently unprecedented build-up as a peace champion last week while accusing President Reagan of waging “dirty wars” around the world.

The Massachusetts Democrat, winding up a three-day visit to Moscow on Friday, was allowed to address the Soviet people for three minutes on the main evening television news program. In addition, viewers were told that his entire 15-minute speech would be presented tonight in prime time, and a smiling photo of him and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev appeared on the front page of the Communist Party newspaper Pravda.

At the same time, an editorial in Pravda denounced Reagan and his State of the Union message in harsh terms.

Reagan had returned to “the discredited and bankrupt ideas of a ‘crusade’ against socialism,” the editorial said, adding that he promised the world more “dirty wars” in waging his campaign.

Aimed for a Large Audience

Kennedy’s message, recorded before he left for home Friday evening, was three times as long as the New Year’s greeting by Reagan that appeared on Soviet television last Jan. 1. Reagan’s speech was not advertised in advance, but Friday night’s announcement of Kennedy’s appearance tonight seemed designed to attract a large audience.

The buildup for Kennedy is unprecedented exposure for an American politician who is not the incumbent president. In 1972, at the height of detente, then-President Richard M. Nixon was allowed to make a similar address over the state-controlled television network.

In the part of his speech seen Friday, Kennedy said he felt that both Reagan and Gorbachev now understand the vital necessity of global survival.

“Above all else, we must never permit local conflicts to become the trigger for global war,” Kennedy said.