Reagan Optimistic on U.S.-Soviet Relations : Says ‘Bugging,’ Spy Cases Will Not Sour Moves to Limit Nuclear Arms; Gorbachev Invitation Open

President Reagan offered a generally upbeat assessment Friday of U.S.-Soviet ties, despite the spy case at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, but tempered his optimism with reminders that the relationship remains scarred by differences over arms control, human rights and such Third World battlefields as Nicaragua and Afghanistan.

In a low-key speech that shied away from the harsh attacks he has directed at the Soviet Union in the past, the President said that there is “no great cause for excitement, no great cause for alarm” in the state of superpower relations.

Invitation Stands

He indicated that the charges and countercharges that the Soviet Union and the United States had “bugged” each others’ embassies in Washington and Moscow would not sour efforts to limit the U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons arsenals and that an invitation to Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to visit the United States has not been withdrawn.

“The welcome mat is still out,” he said.

In a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Reagan said that “there’s no excuse for what the Soviets did or for the way security was handled (by the United States) in Moscow.”

The “bugging” of the embassy--discovered with the arrest of two Marine Corps sentries who had served there--at least temporarily appears to have damped Washington’s relations with Moscow. But the President said:

“We have hopes and we have determination and we are proceeding.”

Secretary’s Trip

The spy 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 his Soviet counterpart, Foreign Minister Eduard A. Schevardnadze, and with Gorbachev.

Two Marines have been charged with espionage. Officials have said that they allowed Soviet agents access to some of the most secure communications facilities in the U.S. Embassy in central Moscow. Two other Marines have also been detained, for allegedly fraternizing with Soviet women, and one of the two is suspected of spying in the Leningrad consulate.

During a question period after the speech, Reagan said that “suddenly we can see this violation of orders against fraternization and then what was outright selling . . . out our country.”

He linked such behavior to what he called “value-free education” that fails to teach “moral principles or what is right or what is wrong.”

‘No Surprise’

In his speech, Reagan, who once characterized the Soviet Union as “the evil empire,” 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.”

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.

‘Huge Soviet Advantage’

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

Earlier in the day, Gorbachev said in Prague, Czechoslovakia, that the Soviet Union would not go along with Western suggestions that negotiations on the shorter-range missiles be linked to those on the longer-range weapons in the intermediate class.

Asked about Gorbachev’s remarks, Reagan said: “We have never believed in the linkage of those two weapon systems together, but we have believed that the negotiations should be simultaneous. . . .”

The President, voicing the same optimism that his senior aides have expressed in recent weeks, 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.

Challenge Voiced

“The bleeding wound of Afghanistan must be healed,” Reagan said. “I challenge the U.S.S.R. to set a date this calendar year when it will begin the withdrawal of Soviet troops on a speedy schedule.”

In Nicaragua, he said, “Soviet conduct . . . will be a litmus test of our relationship.”

He reiterated his proposal that the United States and the Soviet Union cut their strategic arsenals--made up of long-range nuclear weapons--by 50%, and also called for “substantially liberalized emigration policies” to allow Jews, Christians and others to leave the Soviet Union.

The President said that “establishing an environment where tensions are lessened demands realism and a willingness to stand by our values and commitments in the face of threats, walkouts and woeful predictions.” He continued:

“We need to remember, too, that voices of panic or accommodation disrupt the careful pursuit of peace when, in their rush to sign an agreement or initial a treaty, they lose sight of justice and world freedom as goals of American foreign policy.”