Summit Reaction Splits Along Predictable Lines

World reaction to the Iceland summit varied widely, with Western Europe, predictably, being generally more favorable to President Reagan, the Soviet Bloc more favorable toward Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Asian nations more evenhanded.

Western European government leaders said Monday that some progress appeared to have been made at the summit, but several newspapers and opposition parties called it a failure that wasted opportunities for arms control.

Three members of the Soviet Bloc--Bulgaria, East Germany and Hungary--blamed Reagan for the failure of the two sides to reach agreement.

In China, official media generally avoided blaming either side.

‘Star Wars’ Dispute

Reagan and Gorbachev had both said in Iceland that they were close to reaching an agreement on arms reductions but that it fell through because of a dispute over “Star Wars,” the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative for a space-based defense against nuclear weapons.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a staunch supporter of the Reagan Administration, said that Reagan and Gorbachev achieved “substantial progress.”

“The talks were never billed as a meeting where agreements would be reached,” Thatcher said through her spokesman.

However, Denis Healey, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain’s opposition Labor Party, blamed the outcome on Reagan’s refusal to back down on the Strategic Defense Initiative.

The lack of accord came as something of a setback to West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, another strong Reagan supporter. However, he tried to present the summit in the best possible light.

Kohl said his government regards it as “a clarifying, intermediate phase, a suitable beginning” for an eventual negotiated solution to arms control in Geneva.

The opposition Social Democratic Party’s spokesman on security affairs, Horst Ehmke, gave a gloomy picture, calling the end of the summit meeting “a black Sunday for humanity.”

In France, Socialist President Francois Mitterrand said, “The fact that this conference failed . . . on SDI leads one to believe that this problem will continue to be at the center of difficulties for yet a long time.”

Danish Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen said: “The general disappointment after the lack of results in Reykjavik is understandable. But at the same time this obliges the two sides to continue negotiations in a constructive spirit.”

However, Copenhagen newspapers described the summit as a “total flop,” a “collapse” and a “setback.”

Soviet Bloc spokesmen blamed Reagan for the summit’s failure.

East German leader Erich Honecker told the official news agency ADN: “It can be hoped . . . that through support of Soviet proposals by the world public, one will be able to find agreement among (Americans), too, so that the world can live in peace.”

The official Hungarian news agency MTI said, “Mikhail Gorbachev has made clear the position of the sides, including the fact that the hands of the U.S. President were again bound by the American military-industrial complex.”

Bulgaria’s state news agency said: “In Reykjavik, the U.S. ruined the historical chance for elimination of the most serious obstacles on the road toward disarmament . . . .”

In China, the government-controlled New China News Agency said: “It seems that the game played by the two superpowers has not finished. It remains a tough game.”

It also cited the Strategic Defense Initiative as a sticking point but added: “Another reason for the failure is that the summit meeting was hurriedly arranged. . . .”

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India was quoted as expressing concern over the breakdown in talks but also said, “It is reassuring that the proposals made at the summit have not been withdrawn.”