Pravda Says Obstacles to Summit Remain : Reagan Letter Called No Solution to Arms Issue

President Reagan’s recent letter to Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev failed to solve any of the arms control problems obstructing another superpower summit, the Communist Party newspaper said Friday.

Pravda accused the White House of orchestrating news media leaks to give the impression that Reagan’s letter had answered Moscow’s terms for a summit.

“The unprecedented hullabaloo over Reagan’s letter does not concern the key problems in connection with the holding of a summit meeting,” Pravda said.

“Facts indicate that while Moscow’s letter in June contained new major compromise proposals, one cannot see any reciprocal moves in Washington’s letter in July,” the newspaper said.

Reagan and Gorbachev agreed at their first summit in November to hold more talks this year in the United States, although no date has been set. The Kremlin has demanded that concrete measures to improve East-West relations emerge from the next summit, specifically on arms control.

Shultz, Shevardnadze to Meet

Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze are to meet in Washington on Sept. 19-20 to discuss a Reagan-Gorbachev summit later in the year.

Gorbachev in June proposed cuts in numbers of missiles as well as a 15-year extension of the anti-ballistic missile treaty, which would prevent deployment of Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative for a space-based missile defense, known as “Star Wars.”

Reagan, according to news reports, replied two weeks ago with proposals for missile cuts but only a five-to-seven year ban on “Star Wars” to be followed by deployment of weapons in the space-based system.

Pravda accused Reagan of seeking military superiority and “talks on the terms of military rivalries in outer space” instead of preventing an arms race in space.

The newspaper said Reagan offered to eliminate intercontinental-range ballistic missiles, which Moscow depends on, but offered no cuts in cruise missiles, where the United States is ahead.

Pravda said while Reagan has not made any constructive proposals, the leaks “oozing out right from the upper floor of Washington’s political kitchen” are presenting a different image.