Soviets Seek ’88 Afghan Pullout

MOSCOW — Moscow hopes to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 1988 and conditions for this are auspicious, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze was quoted as saying today.

“We would like 1988 to be the last year of the presence of Soviet troops in your country,” Shevardnadze told the Afghan news agency Bakhtar. Asked whether there were any conditions for this, he added: “Looking at this question with President Najibullah, we reached the conclusion that the necessary conditions could be achieved in the near future.”