U.S. and Soviet Experts Explore Key Arms Issues

U.S. and Soviet arms control specialists met for eight hours Monday, and the leader of the U.S. delegation said afterward that they held serious exploratory talks on curbing nuclear and space weapons.

Paul H. Nitze, special adviser to President Reagan on arms control matters, appraised the talks in a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy. Soviet officials made no comment on the extraordinary meeting, which is aimed at speeding up Geneva talks on curbing nuclear weapons.

The talks, which are taking place in a Foreign Ministry villa on the outskirts of Moscow, are also dealing with the possibility of a summit meeting later in the year between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Diverse Delegation

Nitze heads a diverse seven-man delegation that includes Assistant Defense Secretary Richard N. Perle, who has long been skeptical about arms control agreements with the Kremlin.

Viktor P. Karpov, chairman of the Soviet delegation to the arms control talks in Geneva, heads the Kremlin team at the Moscow meeting. In response to a question, he said the Soviet Union is interested in making progress on arms control so that another Soviet-American summit meeting may be held, as was planned at the first Reagan-Gorbachev meeting last November in Geneva.

Nitze said before leaving for Moscow that the U.S. delegation planned to avoid any public comment before returning to Washington and reporting to the President.

The Americans have been optimistic about the prospects for an arms control agreement, but Soviet commentators have emphasized that Reagan has provided no basis for agreement.

A major issue is Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, the “Star Wars” program. The President has offered to delay deployment of the SDI for at least 7 1/2 years while research continues. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, has called for a ban on any space-based missile system for at least 15 years.

The U.S. delegation expects to conclude the talks today and return immediately to Washington.