Soviets Propose Resuming Preparations for Summit

The Soviet Union, which had canceled preparations for another Reagan-Gorbachev summit, has proposed that they be resumed, a senior official said today.

It was the first public step by the Soviets toward scheduling the next summit since they called off a preparatory meeting between Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and Secretary of State George P. Shultz after the April 15 U.S. bombing raids on Libya.

Vladimir F. Petrovsky, deputy foreign minister, told a news conference that the Kremlin has “proposed to the United States to set in motion a preparatory mechanism” for a meeting between the two foreign ministers, and diplomatic contacts have “now embarked on a practical phase.”

He made clear that the two sides were far from setting a date for a second summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

At their first summit last November in Geneva, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to meet again this year in the United States.

In Washington, White House spokesman Larry Speakes welcomed Petrovsky’s statement and said the United States hopes it indicates “a willingness on (the part of) the Soviet Union to move forward to preparations for a summit, which we would like to have.”

At the State Department, officials said they were taken aback by a Soviet claim to have initiated steps to a preparatory meeting.

A State Department official who refused to be identified said Washington had been calling for a advance meeting between Shultz and Shevardnadze since January but that the Soviet Union had been dragging its feet.

“They are portraying it as their initiative. That’s incredibly cheeky,” he said in response to the Soviet statement.

State Department spokesman Charles Redman told reporters the Soviet Union should propose some dates. “Let’s get on with it,” he said.

Petrovsky said even the Shultz-Shevardnadze meeting hinges on chances of “tangible” progress in arms control.

The Soviets have expressed reluctance to set a date for the summit until they see improvement in the international political climate and are assured of a concrete agreement on some aspect of arms control.