Soviets Hint Spy Case Resolution : But Official Still Links Daniloff and Zakharov, Calls Diplomacy the Key

A senior Soviet official said Saturday that diplomatic efforts may produce a “final solution” to spy charges against American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff following his conditional release from prison.

The official, Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov, again linked the case to the U.S. indictment of Soviet citizen Gennady F. Zakharov for espionage.

“We would not like those cases to poison the atmosphere of our relations,” he told a press briefing. “We should not make the dark clouds . . . of mistrust . . . even darker.” At the same time, however, he made fresh allegations that Daniloff was working on behalf of the CIA and said evidence of this was turned over to President Reagan and other American officials.

Arrest ‘Carefully Engineered’

In a written statement, Daniloff again asserted his innocence and said his arrest last Aug. 30 was “carefully engineered” to give Moscow some bargaining leverage in the case of accused spy Zakharov in New York City.

Daniloff’s wife, Ruth, said that he was suffering from “nervous and emotional exhaustion” after nearly two weeks in a KGB prison, and he postponed plans to hold a news conference.

A Soviet-American agreement led to the release of Daniloff from Lefortovo prison into the custody of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow at the same time that Zakharov, a physicist and U.N. employee, was released to custody of the Soviet ambassador in the United States.

Tactical Triumph

The mutual release was a tactical triumph for the Kremlin, which tried to equate the cases despite President Reagan’s personal assertion that Daniloff was not a spy and should be freed without conditions.

Gerasimov on Saturday accused the FBI of framing Zakharov, contending that a package containing secret jet engine designs had been thrust into his hands just before his arrest on Aug. 23.

This may have been the first signal that Moscow is seeking a straight Zakharov-Daniloff swap, which was ruled out earlier by Reagan as unacceptable.

In his news conference statement, Gerasimov charged that Daniloff worked under the direction of Murat Natirboff, a senior official in the U.S. Embassy’s political section who left Moscow recently.

He also hinted that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev had sent copies of CIA directives to Reagan to back up the Kremlin’s contentions that Daniloff was a spy.

Witnesses Lined Up

Soviet citizens are ready to testify that the veteran reporter asked for information about Soviet military units in Afghanistan, sites for reprocessing of uranium and dumps for radioactive waste, the spokesman added.

“Are the locations of radioactive waste dumps highly secret information?” an American correspondent asked.

“It is secret in the Soviet Union,” Gerasimov replied.

The fresh charges apparently were a Soviet response to statements of Secretary of State George P. Shultz that Daniloff was still a “hostage” and that evidence was being fabricated against him.

Rocking the Boat

“I believe we shouldn’t rock the boat,” Gerasimov said, recalling the President’s words to that effect on the Daniloff case last week.

“But there is an impression that the boat is being rocked again,” the Soviet spokesman said.

Earlier, Gerasimov had referred to this “trivial and secondary case” against Daniloff, contending that it should not be allowed to upset an anticipated Soviet-American summit meeting this year.

Asked at Saturday’s press conference if Daniloff, a correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, might be expelled from the Soviet Union, Gerasimov replied:

“As a result of diplomatic efforts, it was possible to free him. . . . The inquiry is still going on, but it does not mean that further diplomatic efforts could not lead to a final solution of the case.”

To Friends, Colleagues

Daniloff, in his statement addressed to friends and colleagues, said:

“I do want to assure you once again that I have no official or secret relationship with any intelligence agency.

“Everything that I have done in the Soviet Union has been on my personal initiative or on request of my magazine.

“Therefore, my case is in no way equivalent to the case of Gennady Zakharov in New York. . . .”

Must Report to KGB

“I do not want to comment on the substance of the charges at this time, as the case remains under investigation,” Daniloff continued. “When I return to the United States, I will be happy to discuss the charges in detail.” He said that he must report by telephone every day to his KGB investigator, Valery D. Sergadeyev.

While gratified by the show of support for him in the United States, Daniloff said, he felt the “time has come to cool it.” The search for a more stable, predictable Soviet-American relationship, he said, is far more important than the details of his case or that of Zakharov.

“Right now, I am genuinely concerned that the furor might get out of hand,” he said in appealing for public restraint.

“I fervently hope that the Daniloff case can be resolved rapidly and that my wife and I may return soon to the United States to our children,” he said. “The road to such a solution lies, I believe, in diplomatic negotiation, not judicial proceedings.” If convicted of the charges against him, Daniloff could be sentenced to a prison term ranging from seven to 15 years or to the death penalty.