U.S. and Soviets Seem Closer to Daniloff Accord : ‘Accommodation’ Would Release U.S. Reporter, Physicist to Diplomats

The Reagan Administration, despite its assertion that it will not make a deal, appeared Thursday to be moving toward “an accommodation” with the Soviet Union that will allow American newsman Nicholas Daniloff and Soviet physicist Gennady F. Zakharov, both accused of spying, to be released into the custody of their respective ambassadors in Moscow and Washington.

But State Department officials warned that the give-and-take of such an arrangement would be complicated and that the negotiations could drag on for days.

“It may end up looking like a George Allen trade--several different players and a couple of draft choices,” one official said, referring to the complicated player trades struck by the former coach of the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams. “People are trying to structure something that would save face on both sides, and it will have to include several elements.”

Awkward Precedent

President Reagan has publicly ruled out a deal with the Soviets, and some Administration officials are concerned that a willingness to release Zakharov to the Soviet ambassador would set an awkward precedent in future U.S. moves against Soviet officials suspected of spying.

“It’s not a deal, but it’s an accommodation,” one official said, pointing out that the United States has several working investigations of Soviet personnel at the United Nations, where Zakharov was employed, and that more arrests are likely.

Officials said they regard a scheduled meeting between Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze on Sept. 19-20 as an informal deadline for Daniloff’s release. U.S. officials have warned that they would consider canceling the meeting if the correspondent is not freed.

Negotiations between the superpowers have intensified in recent days, since the receipt here of a letter from Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said that U.S. officials are “vigorously pursuing diplomatic channels” in an effort to win freedom for Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for U.S. News & World Report.

Officials said that, in the U.S. view, the ground rules of any exchange should allow the United States to try Zakharov on espionage charges, while Daniloff would be permitted to leave the Soviet Union without standing trial.

“A one-on-one trade will not happen,” a State Department official said. “We are hanging tough on that. We have been reaffirming our assertion from Day One that these cases are not equal.”

The Soviets did not respond to a similar offer to exchange Daniloff last week, before he was officially charged with espionage, but some variation of the Administration’s original proposal appears to be the only solution for both sides in the escalating conflict.

“They got themselves into this mess, and they’ve got to find a way out of it,” said an Administration official, who believes that Reagan’s refusal to give ground may have convinced the Soviets that a lopsided swap is the best they can get.

Shultz met with Soviet Ambassador Yuri V. Dubinin for 15 minutes Wednesday to discuss the contents of Gorbachev’s letter, which was sent to the White House earlier this week in response to a letter from Reagan vouching for Daniloff’s innocence and appealing for his prompt release. A State Department official described the meeting as “a very intense session.”

Officials refused to characterize the letter as positive or negative but said it served to spur negotiations between the superpowers over a possible end to the stalemate.

Shultz said the Administration would reject any outcome that left Daniloff in the Soviet Union awaiting trial, declaring that that would make the newsman “a hostage.”