Izvestia Gets Reagan View on Key Issues

President Reagan said in an interview published Friday in the Soviet daily Izvestia that important progress has been made in U.S.-Soviet relations but that problems remain arising from mutual mistrust.

The interview covered more than half a page in Izvestia. The government newspaper did not say when it was conducted.

In the interview, carried without any official Soviet comment, Reagan said issues that still worry the United States include the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and, despite improvements, Moscow’s human rights record.

“We are not trying to impose our system on others,” Reagan said. “But we cannot ignore clear historical lessons.

“From countries which respect the rights and freedoms of their own citizens, one can expect with more confidence respect for the rights and freedoms of other countries.”

Reagan called on the Soviets to stop their support of “repressive” governments in Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Cambodia and called for an easing of tension in Europe.

“Forty years after the defeat of Hitler, Europe still remains divided by artificial and inhuman barriers,” he said.

Asked what should be done to further improve U.S.-Soviet relations, Reagan called for more contacts between ordinary citizens of both countries.

“It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times,” he said, quoting an old Russian saying.

Changes taking place in the Soviet Union raise prospects for detente, Reagan added.

“We Americans have noted with great interest the efforts at reform under way in your country,” he said.

“This is primarily your internal concern, of course, but there is no question that it can have international significance as well: It could contribute to an improved international climate and a relaxation of tensions.”

Reagan defended his “Star Wars” space-based anti-missile defense project. Moscow earlier vilified the program without allowing much airing of the American point of view.