U.S., Soviets Cooperating in Bid to End Gulf War, Walters Says

Vernon A. Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday that the Kremlin is cooperating in a new drive to obtain a cease-fire in the nearly seven-year-old war between Iran and Iraq.

Walters said after consulting with senior officials of the Foreign Ministry that the plan is to get the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution calling on Iran and Iraq to stop fighting.

Under the U.N. Charter, Walters told reporters, such a resolution would be binding on both governments and defiance could result in sanctions, including expulsion from the United Nations.

He said that, on instructions from President Reagan, he will go from here to Beijing to discuss the effort to end the Persian Gulf War.

‘A cooperative Spirit’

The United States, the Soviet Union, China, Britain and France, the five permanent members of the Security Council, have worked together on the draft of a resolution, Walters said. He said it is being considered by other governments and action is expected within two weeks.

“We are moving forward rapidly,” Walters said. “I found great understanding and a cooperative spirit (in talks with Soviet officials). . . . We reached a broad measure of agreement.”

Walters said he had come to Moscow with the intention of reviving a tradition of consultation between the U.S. and Soviet representatives at the United Nations. It was the first time in a number of years, he said, that the U.S. ambassador to the world body had been in Moscow.

“Our conversations were friendly, frank and helpful,” he said. “There was not a single acrimonious moment.”