Nunn Says Odds Favor INF Pact OK by Summit Time

WASHINGTON — The Senate’s leading Democratic arms control expert said Sunday that the odds are “60-40” that the chamber will ratify the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in time for the Moscow summit--but not before President Reagan’s departure Wednesday for the Soviet Union.

“My guess is that we will finish the INF Treaty prior not to the President departing, but prior to the actual meetings,” said Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, chairman of the Armed Forces Committee. He cautioned, however, that the timing of the vote is unclear.

Meanwhile, Administration officials, striving to steer the treaty through the Senate, held out hope that they might reach a last-minute accord with Democrats, who have offered several controversial additions to the pact.

Amid the political maneuvering, Administration officials warmed up for the meetings between President Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev by issuing strong praise for the Soviet leader.

“In terms of tone, it is quite apparent that he (Gorbachev) wants to see things move forward, and I think that is good,” said Secretary of State George P. Shultz in a television interview.

Given the struggles in the Senate, however, there are growing doubts whether Reagan and Gorbachev will be able to exchange documents ratifying the INF pact when they meet. Few Senate leaders believe that the treaty will be approved by Wednesday, when Reagan departs for two days in Finland, before proceeding on to Moscow for meetings beginning Sunday, May 29.

There is hope that the Senate could complete its action during the summit with late-night sessions this week, possibly running through Saturday. Yet some leaders are now saying that the summit will be a success even if the treaty has not been formally ratified.

“It would be no great catastrophe if we did not complete the treaty by the time the President was in Moscow, but I think it would be very desirable if we do,” said Nunn, during an appearance on ABC-TV’s “This Week With David Brinkley.”

He noted that the signing of the INF pact, which took place last December, was the true “highlight” between the two superpowers, while the Senate action is merely a “diplomatic exchange.”

The Soviets sounded the same theme Sunday, when Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov, appearing on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” indicated that the lack of a ratified treaty by the time of the summit “would not be a great tragedy.”

One of the key hurdles holding up a final Senate vote is an amendment offered by Nunn and opposed by the Administration that would require the Senate to approve any reinterpretation of the INF pact. The issue surfaced when the Administration determined, over Democratic objections, that a “broad interpretation” of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union permitted the nation to move ahead with the “Star Wars” defense program.

On Sunday, National Security Adviser Colin L. Powell, appearing on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” indicated that the Administration is willing to “keep talking” about a possible compromise on the Nunn proposal, if it would help speed up Senate action.

The United States is ready to assist a 1994 unmanned Soviet probe of Mars. Page 16.