Carlucci Hails 1st Talks With Soviet Minister

In the first formal meeting of U.S. and Soviet defense chiefs, Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci said here Tuesday that the sessions “could have an impact on the future of the world” as it is affected by superpower relations.

“I can think of nothing more important to discuss than our motives . . . and doctrine,” Carlucci said, referring to a key agenda item for his talks with Defense Minister Dmitri T. Yazov. Both sides are making significant shifts in their military postures.

“This is not a negotiation,” Carlucci said at dinner, where the two officials met officially for the first time, “but the beginning of a process (that) can build a background of understanding and help overcome difficulties in our (arms control and other bilateral) negotiations.”

Carlucci’s remarks were relayed by a senior Pentagon official. He and others present at the formal dinner said that Yazov offered a long toast that dealt primarily with thanks to the Swiss hosts for hospitality.

‘Understanding and Trust’

Yazov, in an arrival statement and in earlier comments in Moscow, said he looks forward to “substantive discussion of military-political and military-technical issues for the sake of mutual understanding and trust.”

“The basic provisions of the military doctrines” of the two sides will be examined in three days of talks here, he said, along with “fundamental issues of reducing and limiting armaments.”

The two defense chiefs arrived within minutes of each other at the official Swiss guest house, a small castle on the outskirts of Bern, with their wives and aides. The Soviets told the Americans in advance that their military officers would dress in civilian clothes, and the U.S. delegation followed suit.

Yazov appeared friendly and even jovial as he and Carlucci posed for pictures with Swiss Defense Minister Arnold Koller. A U.S. official later described the Soviet minister as a “ground pounder (an infantryman) rather than a diplomat.”

Urged by photographers to shake hands, Yazov did not understand the English, but when he saw Carlucci’s outstretched hand, he made a show of grasping it mightily in what is reputed to be a bone-crushing grip.

Starting a Dialogue

Carlucci, who has several times referred to the talks with Yazov as a “historical event,” said en route to Bern that “the most important aspect of this meeting is that it is taking place, and the purpose is to start a military-to-military dialogue.”

In addition to military doctrine, the agenda includes discussions of such regional issues as Afghanistan, arms control and U.S.-Soviet military contacts, including sometimes dangerous encounters.

Carlucci said he would ask Yazov to apologize for the shooting death of U.S. Army Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson Jr. three years ago by a Soviet sentry in East Germany. Nicholson, a member of a liaison team attached to Soviet forces in East Europe, was near a Soviet base at the time.

The Soviets have repeatedly refused to apologize for the incident.