Gorbachev Yields on Mid-Range Missiles : Summit Chances Improved, Reagan Spokesman Says

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s acceptance of a “global double zero” option--elimination of two categories of nuclear missiles in Europe and Asia--marks a major step toward completion of a new arms control agreement and improves prospects for a summit conference with President Reagan this fall, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The White House, describing the move as acceptance of a proposal made by Reagan in 1981, welcomed the action with caution until the Soviets formally present the new position at the Geneva negotiations today.

“We have seen statements of positive Soviet responses before only to later discover unacceptable conditions,” presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater noted. “We therefore look forward to seeing their official statement at the Geneva negotiations.”

But, if it conforms to initial reports, the Soviet move would offer “some reason for encouragement” that a new arms agreement and a summit meeting was in prospect, Fitzwater acknowledged.

In return for the Soviet concessions, the United States is expected to agree to destroy its medium-range missiles rather than convert them into weapons that would not be covered by the agreement, such as making ground-launched cruise missiles into ship-launched cruise missiles.

If the deal goes through under current conditions, the Soviet Union would destroy more than twice the number of missiles as the United States--700, compared with 316--and five times more warheads--1,570, compared with 316.

Moscow apparently believes that the military disadvantages to such a trade would be balanced by political gains in driving wedges between the United States and its European allies and increasing sentiment for a denuclearized Europe that could be intimidated by the superior Soviet conventional forces, said Harry Gelman, a Rand Corp. specialist on Soviet affairs.

Issues Remain

Although difficult issues remain to be resolved before final agreement is reached, Gorbachev’s new position appears to clear away 80% of the contentious language in the proposals of the two sides on a treaty covering missiles with a range of 300 to 3,000 miles, said Kenneth L. Adelman, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Moreover, Gorbachev did not mention one of the key remaining roadblocks in his statement: the 72 West German Pershing 1-A missiles capable of delivering warheads (under U.S. control) up to 460 miles away, short-range weapons that Moscow wants removed but Bonn and Washington have refused to eliminate.

“This very critical omission” suggests that Gorbachev believes the issue can be resolved, Adelman said.

However, another senior U.S. official cautioned that “we’re not out of the woods yet on the German missiles. The Soviets have set themselves up to put tremendous pressure on West Germany and further divide its coalition government.”

‘Trouble in Bonn’

He added that “I don’t think they can resist the temptation to cause trouble in Bonn,” where Chancellor Helmut Kohl insists on keeping the missiles while Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher has expressed willingness to scrap them.

Further hard bargaining is also anticipated on two other major issues, verification and the pace of reductions toward zero, say arms control experts.

The United States has proposed detailed on-site inspection measures, including the permanent stationing of inspectors at missile production, storage and maintenance plants, and the right to investigate suspected sites. The Soviets generally would limit inspections to observing missiles being destroyed rather than monitoring those that are still operational.

The United States has also proposed that the Soviets reduce their weapons to the U.S. levels before America begins to eliminate its weapons. But, because of the large difference in arsenals, the Soviets would have to cut their arms by more than half--under the watchful eyes of U.S. inspectors--before America began to reduce its stocks or host Soviet inspectors.

Speculation on Delays

Adelman said the Soviets may have adopted their new position--ending weeks of unexplained foot-dragging--after concluding that the Iran- contra scandal has not damaged Reagan enough to force him into making major concessions to achieve an arms control agreement that might improve his political standing. Other officials speculated that the Soviet leader’s preoccupation with his own domestic political issues caused the delays.

Before Gorbachev’s statement Wednesday, he and Reagan had agreed in principle to eliminate all of the longer-range missiles of this category--600- to 3,000-mile range--in Europe but retain 100 warheads for these missiles elsewhere. Soviet warheads would be based in the Asian part of the Soviet Union, while U.S. warheads would be on American territory.

The United States later said that, while it remains committed to that arrangement, it preferred elimination of all such weapons--or zero globally--to simplify other issues.

“Fully 80% of the bracketed (disputed) language in the draft treaty we’ve been negotiating has to do with those 100 warheads in Asia,” Adelman said. Thus, by agreeing to eliminate those 100 warheads, Gorbachev removed 80% of the disagreements.

Gorbachev also accepted Wednesday the elimination of the shorter-range missiles of this category--300- to 600-mile range--on both sides. The Soviets have about 140 single-warhead missiles in this category; the United States has none. Previously, he seemed to have agreed to this position, but Soviet negotiators in Geneva wanted to retain some of these weapons in Asia.

His new position was signaled about a month ago when a Soviet negotiator informally offered to accept the “global zero” proposal in both categories of the medium-range weapons on two conditions:

-- That the United States give up its rights to convert ground-launched cruise missiles to sea-launched cruise missiles and Pershing 2 ballistic missiles--1,250-mile range--to Pershing 1-B missiles--about 550-mile range.

-- That the United States promise not to convert the German-owned Pershing 1-A missiles into newer Pershing 1-Bs.

U.S. diplomats responded that the compromise appeared “reasonable.” But, after the exchange leaked to the press July 1, the Soviets denied publicly that the offer had been made and appeared to freeze progress in the arms area, as well as on plans for a new summit meeting. Gorbachev’s statement now resumes the movement.