Shultz, Shevardnadze Planning Talks in U.S., Officials Say

Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze are making arrangements to meet in Washington in mid-July to try to clear obstacles to a treaty on intermediate nuclear missiles, arms control adviser Edward L. Rowny and other U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Rowny told reporters at a news conference in Geneva that he did not know whether a specific date has been fixed for the meeting. A U.S. official, who demanded anonymity, said here that Shultz and Shevardnadze would probably meet July 10-11.

The source said the United States has proposed two sets of dates for the session, July 5-6 and July 10-11. The Soviets turned down the first and are “75 to 80% agreeable” to the second, the source said.

Asked for comment, State Department deputy spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said a Shultz-Shevardnadze meeting is a possibility but that nothing has been officially scheduled.

The principal item on the agenda is a potential agreement to remove hundreds of U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles from Europe and hundreds of additional Soviet missiles from Asia.