THE MOSCOW SUMMIT : Shultz Hails Warming of U.S.-Soviet Ties : Suggests Leaders’ Friendship Is More Vital Than Arms Accord

Secretary of State George P. Shultz suggested Thursday that the friendship shown by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at their meeting in Moscow was more important than reaching an arms accord.

Arriving from Moscow, Shultz briefed members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the talks, and his report was endorsed unanimously by the 15 other members.

Later he told a news conference that the failure to obtain a new weapons agreement was less significant than the strengthening of overall U.S.-Soviet relations. These developing ties, he said, have been reaffirmed and are now “broad, solid, manageable.”

Important Aspect

The most important aspect of the fourth Reagan-Gorbachev meeting, Shultz said, is that East-West relations are far better now than before their first meeting, in 1985 at Geneva.

Asked about Gorbachev’s comment Wednesday that more might have been accomplished, Shultz said, “It is always possible to achieve more.” He said that the United States would have liked to reach agreement on a 50% reduction in intercontinental ballistic missiles but that both sides had realized there was not time to “work through all the difficult issues.”

“We only want to sign a good agreement,” Shultz said. As it was, he went on, the outcome “was a good one.”

Shultz defended Reagan’s decision to speak out strongly on human rights, a step that has been criticized in some European newspapers. Shultz said the subject is “very important.”

Human Rights ‘Has a Priority’

“We want to let people know the U.S. cares about human rights,” he said, “that it has a priority, that we say these things whether we are in the U.S., China or the Soviet Union.”

The NATO council members strongly supported Shultz’s presentation, which included no major surprises. This was in contrast to the situation in October, 1986, after the summit in Iceland, where Reagan had suggested, to the dismay of some European leaders, that the superpowers dismantle all their nuclear weapons.

Further, according to NATO sources, the Europeans were pleased that Shultz had pointed out to the Soviets that in the area of conventional arms reduction, it is not just the superpowers that are involved but the 23 members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

In summing up the NATO ministers’ reaction to the Shultz briefing, Lord Carrington, the secretary general, said: “The council recognized the success of the meeting in Moscow, which demonstrated the growing strength of the political dialogue between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

“The council was also pleased to hear of progress achieved on arms control--particularly on START (strategic arms reduction talks)--on regional issues, on nuclear testing and on practical measures to build confidence and predictability.

“Equally, we were encouraged by the emphasis on human rights, which we hope will soon show itself in Soviet positions in the Vienna CSCE (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe). And it goes without saying that the council welcomed the final exchange of documents on the INF Treaty.”

He said these are all elements of an increasingly stable relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, “which can only benefit the alliance.” And he said the United States “can be assured of full alliance support in pursuing our common objectives for further improvements in East-West relations.”

Later, Carrington said that Reagan and Gorbachev “have formed a friendship rare among political figures of any sort and unprecedented between Soviet and American leaders.”

‘Personal Bond Augurs Well’

“Respect, growing trust and affection are there,” he said. “This personal bond, we all hope, augurs well for further reductions of tension in the international atmosphere and particularly between the alliance and the Warsaw Pact.”

Shultz said the meeting in Moscow had showed that the two countries had established a four-part agenda--bilateral relations, arms control, regional issues and human rights concerns--that could serve as a continuing basis for future talks.

Rather than focus on arms control agreements, he said, attention should be directed to “the breadth of what is taking place, which gives (the meeting) a lot more meaning.”

The developing trust between the United States and the Soviet Union is critically important, Shultz said, because--and here he quoted the President--”nations don’t trust each other because they are armed; they are armed because they don’t trust each other.”

In sum, Shultz said, the meeting showed that the United States and the Soviet Union should pursue “consistent and continuous” policies with Moscow and that “we are ready to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”