Reagan Cautious but Says He’d Welcome Gorbachev : West Point Talk Tells of Arms Gains

President Reagan said today that he would welcome a visit to the United States by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, but that a summit conference “is not a precondition for progress” on the superpowers’ arms control agenda.

Reagan, described by aides as taking care not to raise expectations about a summit in the wake of earlier disappointments, said, “When the general secretary is ready to visit the United States, I and the American people will welcome him.”

The President spoke to the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy several hours after the White House and the Soviet Union formally announced that Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze will meet with Reagan on Friday.

Snag Hit Last Week

The White House meeting will take place one week after U.S.-Soviet negotiations intended to lead to a summit appeared to hit a snag in Moscow over continued Soviet insistence that limits be imposed on space weapons, specifically the Reagan Administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense system.

The White House announcement said that the Soviet foreign minister will make “a brief working visit” beginning Friday, that he is expected to carry a letter from Gorbachev to Reagan and that the talks will continue those that Shevardnadze and Secretary of State George P. Shultz held last week in Moscow and last month in Washington.

White House officials say they feel that Gorbachev may have re-emphasized his interest last week in obtaining limits on the U.S. space defense program, popularly called “Star Wars,” as a last-ditch gamble, hoping that the President’s domestic political problems would entice him to accept the restrictions in exchange for a summit conference and completion of a treaty eliminating U.S. and Soviet medium- and short-range nuclear weapons.

Bait Not Taken

“Shultz and the President slammed the door on that very quickly,” said an Administration arms control expert, speculating that the U.S. reaction has led to “a retrenchment in progress” in Moscow.

Now, he said, the Soviets appear ready to put arms control efforts, and progress toward a summit, “back on track,” leading to some optimism that dates for a summit conference can be set during the Shevardnadze visit.

Reagan, speaking to more than 4,000 cadets, said that “summits can be useful for leaders and for nations--occasions for frank talk and a bridge to better relations. It would be good for Mr. Gorbachev to see this country for himself.”

“I am ready to continue and intensify our negotiations but a summit is not a precondition for progress on the agenda at hand,” Reagan said.

Moscow Talks Productive

He told the cadets that Shultz’ meetings in Moscow produced “important positive movement toward an INF agreement,” referring to a pact to eliminate medium- and short-range nuclear weapons, which are known as the Intermediate Nuclear Force, and also made progress in other areas.

In addition, “much progress has been made in reaching accord on our proposal of cutting strategic arsenals in half,” he said. Strategic weapons are long-range systems capable of striking targets greater than approximately 3,000 miles from the launch point.

A White House official, commenting on the low-key tone of the President’s remarks, said, “We have to be low key on expectations. All we’re saying is Shevardnadze is coming and we’ll talk to him. As for expectations beyond that, we don’t have any.”