U.S. Calls New Soviet Offer on Daniloff ‘Unacceptable’ : Reds Insist on Trade for Spy at U.N.

Despite optimistic Soviet comments about talks on American reporter Nicholas Daniloff, a Reagan Administration official said today the Soviets had not made any acceptable proposals that would allow the journalist to return home.

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said today he had made “good proposals” to Secretary of State George P. Shultz on a formula for resolving the case of the 51-year-old U.S. News & World Report correspondent who has been confined to Moscow on espionage charges that the United States insists are the result of a frame-up.

Shevardnadze and Shultz met twice Tuesday in New York for two hours and 45 minutes to discuss Daniloff’s case, State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said.

No Resolution Yet

“No resolution, not resolved,” Kalb said following the first meeting, held at the United Nations. He later said the two diplomats met at the Soviet U.N. Mission at about 7:30 p.m., but declined to comment on those talks.

However, Shevardnadze told reporters, “There are good chances for solving this problem. I’ve made all my proposals, my conscience is clear.”

The foreign minister made similar remarks today, and said of resolving the case, “Yes, yes, there’s a possibility. There is a chance. Everything’s up to the American side.”

But in Washington, an Administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said today, “There hasn’t been anything acceptable to us that the Soviets have proposed yet.”

Soviets Insist on Trade

He said the two sides had offered several proposals but that the Soviets still were insisting Daniloff be traded for Gennady Zakharov, a Soviet U.N. employee who was charged in New York with spying one week before Daniloff’s arrest Aug. 30.

The United States insists the two cases are not comparable and has ruled out a trade.

The Washington Post, citing unidentified sources, said today the Soviets had proposed that they release Daniloff, then release at least one Soviet dissident in exchange for Zakharov.

Kalb refused to comment on the report. U.S. officials previously have said that the State Department has proposed Daniloff be allowed to come home while Zakharov be tried and, if convicted, sent back to Moscow in exchange for several Soviet dissidents.

Daniloff Rhetoric Softened

Meanwhile, the Soviets appeared today to soften their rhetoric about Daniloff. Soviet media and leaders including Communist Party leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev have routinely referred to Daniloff as an “American spy” caught in the act. But a Soviet spokesman in Moscow today avoided calling the U.S. reporter a spy, referring to him only as an “American citizen.”

First Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Vorontsov, speaking at a news conference called to criticize President Reagan’s U.N. speech, said the arrest of Daniloff should be kept off the front pages. “We want to discuss this question calmly with the American side without publicity,” Vorontsov said in reply to questions.

Daniloff and Zakharov were released from jail Sept. 13 into the custody of their respective ambassadors pending trials.