Kremlin Hints It Might Cancel Daniloff Trial

A Soviet official indicated Sunday for the first time that the Kremlin would be willing to free arrested American journalist Nicholas Daniloff without a trial to clear the way for a summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The statement by Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov reinforced growing indications that the two nations are moving toward resolving the Daniloff case, which has become the chief obstacle to a superpower summit and a possible breakthrough on arms control.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said in response to questions put to him on ABC’s interview program, “This Week With David Brinkley,” that he hopes to approach settlement of the Daniloff case early this week, when he and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze may meet in New York.

‘Ideas in the Air’

Gerasimov, appearing on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” said that after two days of meetings between Shultz and Shevardnadze on Friday and Saturday in Washington, there were “several ideas in the air” for resolving the Daniloff affair. He added that he felt a “diplomatic accommodation” could be arranged without difficulty.

Until now, Soviet officials have insisted that Daniloff, a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, would be tried on espionage charges stemming from his Aug. 30 arrest in Moscow. But the Soviet spokesman indicated there is now a willingness on the part of Moscow to settle the matter swiftly without a trial.

“Usually he (a suspect such as Daniloff) is going to be put to trial,” Gerasimov said, “but because we don’t want this particular case to be an obstacle in our relations, we can find some kind of solution and let him free.”

Neither Shultz nor the Soviet spokesman would discuss details of a possible arrangement, but it appeared that release of Daniloff was being considered by the Soviets in exchange for some accommodation in the U.S. decision announced last week to expel 25 of the diplomats serving with the Kremlin’s mission at the United Nations who the Administration says are intelligence officers.

“I want this case to be resolved together with other cases,” said Gerasimov, referring to the U.S. order for the 25 Soviet Mission members to leave by Oct. 1. “. . . I don’t see any big obstacles in finding a solution to this particular problem.”

(Two of the 25 expelled diplomats left the country Sunday, Fred Negem, special assistant to Vernon A. Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday. Valentin Karymov, senior counselor at the Soviet Mission, told the Associated Press that all would leave by the deadline.)

Circumvent Linkage

If the Daniloff case were settled in tandem with the expulsion move, it would circumvent the direct linkage that the Soviets have sought to make between Daniloff and the arrest for espionage of Gennady F. Zakharov, a Soviet citizen employed by the United Nations. Zakharov was picked up by the FBI in New York City on Aug. 23, a week before Daniloff’s arrest. U.S. officials have strongly rejected any “deal” involving a swap of Daniloff for Zakharov.

Asked if the United States might later let Zakharov leave this country, if his release were not directly linked to that of Daniloff, Shultz replied: “The point that we have to hold onto here very, very strongly is that we are not going to permit the use of (the United Nations as) a base for spying in the United States. That is the whole point of the Zakharov case. It isn’t so much the individual; it’s the general point.”

Shultz acknowledged that he expects Reagan Administration critics to condemn these discussions as evidence that the United States is not being tough enough on the Soviets. “There are people who say you back down no matter what you do,” he said.

But he strongly denied charges that Reagan earlier had “blinked” in this confrontation with the Kremlin by agreeing to a arrangement under which both Daniloff and Zakharov were freed from prison into the custody of their respective ambassadors.

Shultz said he was encouraged that Shevardnadze told reporters Saturday night that he wanted another meeting with the secretary of state in New York this week to discuss the Daniloff case. “I hope that means that he may have some new information,” Shultz said.

‘Mutually Acceptable Way’

Referring to Daniloff and Zakharov, Shevardnadze said, “My conclusion is that there is a real chance to resolve the questions in a mutually acceptable way.”

Shultz reiterated his view that there can be no fruitful summit without a resolution of the Daniloff case, but he added that he thought the prospects for an arms control breakthrough are still good if Reagan and Gorbachev eventually do set a date for a meeting.

“We do have a situation now where in the field of arms control we are talking about essentially the U.S. agenda,” he said. “In the past, the subject has always been ‘how much can you increase (missiles)?’ Now we have an agenda set at how much are you going to decrease. And that’s what it should be.”

Gerasimov said the major result of the Shultz-Shevardnadze meetings in Washington has been “some forward movement in some fields that can bring us closer to a summit” between Reagan and Gorbachev later this year to discuss arms control issues.

While the Reagan Administration remains adamantly opposed to Soviet proposals for a nuclear test ban and a halt in development of the President’s Strategic Defense Initiative, the so-called “Star Wars” space-based nuclear defense system, Gerasimov said that Kremlin officials hope a summit this year can at least produce a mutual agreement to reduce the number of missiles in Europe. He said the “Star Wars” and test ban issues could be held for a third Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Moscow in 1987.

Agreement Seen on Missiles

U.S. and Soviet negotiators in Geneva are understood to be close to an agreement that would drastically reduce the number of intermediate-range nuclear missiles now deployed in Europe.