Soviets More Realistic on Major Issues, Diplomat Says

Kremlin officials have shown a far more realistic attitude in recent weeks about the U.S. position on East-West issues, raising hopes that a second Reagan-Gorbachev superpower summit can be held in November or December, a high-ranking Western diplomat said Tuesday.

But a final decision on whether a summit will be held this year hinges on the scheduled mid-September session between Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the diplomat said.

While arms control discussions are showing signs of progress, there is virtually no prospect of agreement on any arms issue in the next few months, even if Kremlin leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev does meet again with President Reagan, the envoy added.

But the Soviet Union and the United States both appear ready to single out the most likely areas for future agreement in the arms control talks, he said.

Possible Advances

The diplomat, who is familiar with the course of Soviet-American negotiations in all areas, said that advances could be achieved on regional conflicts, human rights and bilateral relations, as well as on arms control.

“I am convinced, with a relative amount of good will on both sides--and I think that exists today--it will be possible to make progress in each of the four areas,” the official said.

“A lot depends on what the Soviets want,” the diplomat said. “They have been calling the shots to see if the United States would make more concessions, and that hasn’t worked.

“What we’ve seen in the last few weeks is a much more realistic attitude. We are satisfied that this glacier is beginning to move.”

The diplomat spoke to reporters on condition that he not be identified by name or by country so he could be more candid in his remarks.

More Imagination

He said the Soviet Union’s foreign policy hierarchy has recently shown a new flexibility and more imagination on approaches to China and Japan.

“There has been an easing of doctrinal problems with China that we haven’t seen before,” he said, “as well as new moves toward Japan. There’s a degree of suppleness they haven’t shown before.”

On Soviet-American relations, the diplomat said the recent Washington visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander A. Bessmertnykh helped pave the way for the Shultz-Shevardnadze talks next month.

Gorbachev’s letter to Reagan in June, indicating some flexibility on the issue of research by the United States for the Administration’s proposed space-based missile defense system, was a hopeful sign, the diplomat said.

Reagan, in return, sent a reply that Gorbachev said was thought-provoking. Reports in Washington said that Reagan proposed not to deploy the so-called “Star Wars” missile defense for at least seven years while research continues and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty continues in force.

Highly Publicized Proposal

“It’s progressing in a way that negotiations ought to progress,” the diplomat said, contrasting the exchanges by letter with Gorbachev’s highly publicized proposal to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000.

If the progress continues, it may be possible to achieve a significant reduction in nuclear weapons and reach understandings on the role of defense in the nuclear age, the official said.

“Right now I think we have a fair chance of making an actual reduction of nuclear weapons, both in number of launchers and number of warheads,” the diplomat concluded.