More Time Needed to Prepare Arms Pact, Reagan Says

President Reagan said in an interview Thursday that “the time is too limited” to complete work on a strategic nuclear arms treaty before he meets Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at a Moscow summit this spring.

But Reagan added “that if there is sincerity on both sides with regard to getting such an agreement--and I think there is”--a treaty could be signed before he leaves office next January.

In the 30-minute interview in the Oval Office, the President repeatedly complimented Gorbachev, whom he compared to V.I. Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet state. Reagan also said he believes that the Soviets intend to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, as Gorbachev has announced.

Contradictory signals on the strategic arms treaty emanated from Moscow, where a senior Soviet official said Thursday that an accord could be reached in time for the summit. Senior U.S. officials said Thursday that the summit probably will be held over four days in late May.

Reagan said “it would be nice” if a treaty could be completed by the summit, “but I have to tell you that common sense indicates that the time is too limited for us to really think that we could bring a treaty ready for signature to that meeting.”

‘Much More Complicated’

He added that the proposed pact to reduce the superpowers’ strategic nuclear arsenals by 50% “is so much more complicated with regard to verification and everything else” than the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which would scrap U.S. and Soviet medium-range and shorter-range nuclear missiles. The INF accord, now awaiting ratification in the Senate, was signed by Reagan and Gorbachev at their Washington summit in December.

One of the obstacles to agreement on a strategic treaty has been Soviet concern about the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan’s “Star Wars” plan to develop an anti-missile defense system. In the interview, Reagan did not display flexibility on SDI, repeating earlier statements that he would not allow it to be used as “a bargaining chip.”