Gorbachev Speech Blames U.S. for Cost of Arms Race

Mikhail S. Gorbachev told the Soviet people Tuesday that the United States lacks the political determination to reach arms control agreements and wants to “bleed the Soviet Union white economically” through an expensive arms race in space.

In a 65-minute nationally televised address, the Soviet leader gave his first assessment since returning home from the Iceland summit with President Reagan on the failure of the two superpowers to agree to reduce nuclear arsenals.

He said the meeting was useful, but foundered on Reagan’s refusal to give up “Star Wars,” the space-based missile defense system.

“After Reykjavik it is clearer than ever for everyone that SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) is the symbol of obstruction to the cause of peace, the epitome of military schemes, of the unwillingness to remove the nuclear menace looming over mankind,” Gorbachev said. “There can be no other interpretation.”

‘Major Measures’

The Communist Party general secretary described in detail what he portrayed as his efforts throughout the meetings in Iceland to persuade Reagan to agree to what he called “major measures which, if they had been accepted, would have ushered in a new epoch in the history of humanity, a nuclear-free epoch.”

Gorbachev said he remains optimistic that the superpowers have not reached the end of the road in their efforts to agree on arms control but indicated that the next step is up to the Americans.

He accused the United States of making “two grave errors” in its approach to the Soviet Union.

The first, Gorbachev said, is tactical. The Reagan Administration appears to believe the Soviet Union will “sooner or later agree to the revival of the American strategic diktat and will accept limiting only Soviet arms.”

The second mistake, he said, is strategic. “The United States would like to bleed the Soviet Union white economically through the arms race, an arms race in the most expensive, the most advanced space weapons.

‘Torpedo Its Plans’

“The United States would like to create all sorts of difficulties for the Soviet leadership, torpedo its plans, including its plans in the social sphere, in the sphere of improving the living conditions of our people and thereby to arouse the discontent of the people with their leadership,” Gorbachev said.

He dismissed what he called a Western illusion that “the Soviet Union will not . . . withstand the arms race economically, will break down and will come to the West cap in hand.”

Gorbachev said, “We will always be able to stand up for ourselves,” adding: “The Soviet Union has a response to any challenge, if necessary. The Soviet people know this, and it should be known all over the world. We have no wish to engage in power politics.”

He termed the summit useful and said, “It prepared a possible step forward for a real shift for the better provided the United States at long last adopts a realistic position and abandons its illusions in assessments.”

Makes No Predictions

But he made no predictions about when he would meet Reagan again, or about future progress toward superpower arms control.

He also made clear that he remains resolutely opposed to America’s development of “Star Wars.”

Reagan spoke on U.S. television Monday night and blamed Gorbachev for failure to reach agreements in Iceland. He said the United States remains prepared to continue talks but will not give up work on the “Star Wars” defensive shield.