Major Seeks Group of Seven Meeting on Aid for Soviets

British Prime Minister John Major plans to convene a meeting soon of top officials of the Group of Seven major industrial democracies on aid for the Soviet Union, British officials said Friday.

Major’s office said the prime minister, current G-7 chairman, took the initiative Thursday, suggesting a meeting next week of the officials. A spokesman said replies from all the G-7 members are still awaited and a venue will be decided later.

British officials said that Major had promised Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev he would press the Group of Seven--the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Britain--to speed up help for Soviet reforms.

The officials said Major would speak to other G-7 leaders by telephone with new ideas on how they could respond positively to the collapse of the Moscow coup.

Gorbachev had an unprecedented meeting with G-7 leaders after their annual summit in London in July where he got promises of trade, technical help and closer contact with agencies like the World Bank.

But he did not win large cash aid because the G-7 leaders wanted solid evidence of genuine economic reforms in the Soviet Union.

Earlier Friday, the European Community said the Soviet ambassador to Brussels had relayed a message from Gorbachev to EC Commission President Jacques Delors requesting a “significant increase” in EC aid to Moscow.

British officials said Major believes the failure of this week’s Kremlin coup is likely to accelerate the reform process, and the G-7 must adapt its policies accordingly.