‘Welcome Mat Still Out’ for Gorbachev Visit--Reagan : Pragmatic in Face of Spy Scandal

President Reagan said today that there is “no excuse” for the Soviet bugging of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow or “for the way the security” at the embassy was handled by the United States.

But, Reagan said in an assessment of the overall state of U.S.-Soviet relations, there is “no great cause for excitement, no great cause for alarm” and “the welcome mat is still out” to Kremlin leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to visit the United States for a summit.

The President made his remarks in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the Century Plaza Hotel.

The bugging of the embassy--discovered with the arrest of Marine Corps sentries who had served there--appears to have dampened Washington’s relations with Moscow, at least temporarily.

But, the President said: “We have hopes and we have determination and we are proceeding.”

The spying scandal has been given particular urgency by the trip to Moscow next week of Secretary of State George P. Shultz. He is scheduled to discuss arms control and other issues with Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and Gorbachev.

Charged With Espionage

Two Marines have been charged with espionage in the embassy spying scandal. Officials have said that they allowed Soviet agents access to some of the most secure communications facilities in the embassy in central Moscow. Two other Marines, alleged to have fraternized with Soviet women, also have been detained.

“There’s no excuse for what the Soviets did or for the way security was handled in Moscow,” Reagan said.

But, he said, “in response to those who think these recent events throw some new light on Soviet-American relations, I say: ‘Where have you been?’ Anyone familiar with the nature of the Soviet regime, its ideology and intentions, understands that such Soviet actions come as no surprise.”

Nevertheless, Reagan said, “As I said after our Geneva summit, meetings between our leaders are not a favor that one side does for the other. But they can be helpful. And in this connection, my invitation to Mr. Gorbachev to come to America still stands.

“The welcome mat is still out.”

Shultz Objectives Told

Shultz’s trip is intended to elicit a Soviet response on the most recent U.S. proposals for reducing the superpowers’ arsenals of intermediate-range nuclear weapons.

At the Iceland summit last October, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to eliminate longer-range missiles of the intermediate class in Europe. These missiles have a range of about 1,000 to 3,000 miles.

But the future role of shorter-range missiles in this class, capable of traveling 350 to 1,000 miles, has been a stumbling block because the Soviets have roughly 130 of these weapons and the United States has none.

“We cannot permit the benefit of the reduction in longer-range INF missiles, for example, to be undermined or circumvented by continuing imbalance in shorter-range INF missiles, in which the Soviets have a huge advantage,” Reagan said.

Reagan, voicing optimism that others in the Administration have expressed, said that “a breakthrough in the talks on intermediate-range missiles is now a distinct possibility.”

But, indicating a variety of obstacles to improvement in overall U.S.-Soviet relations, Reagan pointed to a number of sore spots, placing at the top of his list the continuing Soviet military presence in Afghanistan.

“The bleeding wound of Afghanistan must be healed,” Reagan said.