Reagan Finds Time to Give Katya ‘Smile and Handshake’

In a White House hallway meeting that was closed to photographers and reporters, Katya Lecheva, the Soviet schoolgirl touring the United States on a mission of peace, got a “smile and a handshake” today from President Reagan.

Reagan chatted for three to four minutes with the 11-year-old in the hallway of the executive mansion as she was winding up a private tour of the White House, Reagan spokesman Peter Roussel said.

“He gave her a smile and a handshake and asked her how she was enjoying her tour of the United States,” Roussel said.

The spokesman said Reagan had been aware that the youngster would be touring the White House, and a meeting was arranged.

Asked why Reagan agreed to meet with Katya when the White House last week turned down a meeting with Yelena Bonner, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, Roussel said, “The meeting was coincidental.”

Katya was accompanied by her mother and a member of the “Children as Peacemakers” organization. The girl gave Reagan a doll with a head that resembled the globe, a symbol of children from around the world, Roussel said.

On Wednesday, Katya told reporters she was singled out for the trip by the Soviet Peace Committee.

“Perhaps I was chosen because I acted in a few anti-war plays--also because I organized an exhibit about Samantha Smith,” the late Maine schoolgirl who made a similar journey for peace to the Soviet Union, she said.