Arms Talks Recessed Without Real Progress

The fourth round of the year-old nuclear arms talks between the United States and the Soviet Union ended here Tuesday with each side blaming the other for lack of any real negotiating progress in the last seven weeks.

“There are positive factors, but they have not led to the degree of progress that should have been achieved during this round, and the reason in the view of the U.S. delegation is that the Soviet delegation has not acted to fulfill the commitments undertaken by our two leaders here in Geneva at the summit conference last November,” said U.S. Ambassador Max M. Kampelman.

Hope for Cooperation

“We hoped for a cooperative U.S. spirit during this round, but unfortunately we did not have it,” said Viktor P. Karpov, the chief Soviet negotiator, as the talks recessed. “We can’t boast of any achievements so far, and it is not our fault.”

In Moscow, Tass, the official news agency, was also quick to comment in its report on the end of the round:

“Perhaps the recess will give the American side time for realizing the urgent need for displaying a new approach to the solution of problems of peace and security in order to break the trend toward an enhanced risk of war.

“The results of the fourth round demonstrate yet one more time that the widely publicized assurances of good intentions made by (Reagan) Administration officials both in Washington and Geneva are not backed up by real deeds.”

Recess Until May 8

And so the negotiators will now take an unusually long break, until May 8, to try to figure out where to go from here. The long break is also seen here as another indication that a second summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev is now unlikely to take place until much later in the year.

Asked about summit prospects, Karpov was careful to avoid any predictions, remarking, “Our preference would be that there is some agreement on arms control, on the main issues of arms control, at the summit--maybe even before.”

In the view of senior members of the American delegation here, there is unlikely to be much real negotiating progress until a date for a second summit meeting has been set. As one official put it, “You need a summit date to concentrate the minds to produce something that the leaders can then proclaim.”

Without a summit date in the offing, the two sides agreed instead to take a long recess.

Some Positive Aspects

Still, as Kampleman pointed out, this fourth round was not without its positive developments. Gorbachev surprised the Americans with a major policy declaration in the form of a letter to President Reagan on the eve of the opening of this round last Jan. 15. Reagan’s answer with the U.S. counterpropsals then reached Geneva on Feb. 24.

“We return to Washington in the hope that President Reagan’s response can breach differences and help to achieve a separate agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces,” Kampelman said.