Upbeat Summit Stresses Rights : Reagan, Gorbachev Talks Called Friendly, Productive by Both Sides

MOSCOW — President Reagan, meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Sunday for their historic fourth summit, again urged the Kremlin to live up to international standards on human rights and agreed to consider Soviet proposals for joint studies on the issue and also on space research.

Conferring in the Kremlin in an atmosphere that both sides described as friendly and productive, the two leaders agreed that U.S.-Soviet relations have improved markedly as a result of the sustained series of summits that began with their first face-to-face meeting in Geneva in November, 1985--the most extensive summit dialogue ever held between an American President and his Soviet counterpart.

“Long-held dislikes have been weakened, habitual stereotypes stemming from enemy images have been shaken” by the meetings, Gorbachev declared during formal welcoming ceremonies for President and Mrs. Reagan conducted in the gilded splendor of the Hall of St. George in the Great Palace of the Kremlin.

Echoing that theme, Reagan declared in his response: “We both know that there are tremendous hurdles yet to be overcome. But we also know that it can be done because we share a common goal--strengthening the framework we have already begun to build for a relationship that we can sustain over the long term.”

The tone of the leaders’ remarks, coupled with upbeat reports issued by both sides after their 71-minute opening work session, created a restrained but positive atmosphere for the opening of the four days of meetings--an aura reinforced by brilliantly sunny spring weather in the Soviet capital.

While major new agreements on the critical issue of arms control are beyond the reach of this summit, both sides are expressing hope that obstacles to the long-sought treaty cutting strategic arms in half might be significantly reduced this week.

And that prospect, coupled with a sense that a more stable framework for conducting superpower relations has been created by the repeated summits and Gorbachev’s dramatic reforms at home, fueled the upbeat aura Sunday.

Indeed, the cordial atmosphere that seemed to exist as one of the most outspokenly anti-Communist presidents in U.S. history set foot on Soviet soil contributed to the only untoward incident of the day:

An unscheduled stroll by the Reagans through the Arbat, a colorful area of downtown Moscow, turned into a bruising melee when Soviet and U.S. security guards clashed with crowds surging toward the President and First Lady.

The Reagans were not injured, but a number of Soviet citizens and several members of the news media assigned to accompany them on the walk were punched and roughed up by security guards fighting to hold back masses of people in what they clearly regarded as a potentially dangerous situation.

“It was very scary at the beginning. The President was very close to the crowd,” one White House aide said later.

Enjoyable First Day

Despite the incident, the 77-year-old President clearly enjoyed his first day in the heart of what he once called the “evil empire.” Asked how it felt to be in the Kremlin, he replied: “It feels just fine. Everybody has made me very welcome,” Reagan said.

The Soviets put on impressive welcoming ceremonies for the Reagans upon their arrival at the airport and at the Kremlin.

Soviet television extended its 40-minute news program by 15 minutes to give a full, accurate account of the first day’s visit.

The Soviets’ coverage reflected the more open information policy of Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost, or openness. Television coverage of the last visit here by an American President--Richard M. Nixon in 1974 at the height of the “detente” era in Soviet-American relations--was extensively censored.

For Reagan, Soviet news coverage was much more extensive and realistic, underlining problems of the superpowers’ relationship as well as reporting hopes for progress.

Treaty ‘Quite Possible’

Gorbachev, who invited Reagan to Moscow and accepted Reagan’s invitation to a Washington summit when both were in Geneva, also appeared determined to begin this summit on an upbeat note. Asked if the two leaders might hold a fifth summit--before Reagan leaves office--to sign a strategic arms reduction treaty (START), he declared: “Quite possible, this is quite possible.”

U.S. and Soviet working groups went into session immediately seeking ways to move the two sides forward on START. While too many problems remain unresolved to make an agreement possible at this summit, the White House has held out hope that an accord might be concluded before Reagan leaves office--if enough progress can be achieved here this week.

On Wednesday, the last day of the Moscow summit, the two leaders will exchange documents of ratification to formally implement the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which eliminates all ground-launched nuclear weapons with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles. Gorbachev referred to the INF treaty Sunday as “the most impressive symbol” of constructive U.S.-Soviet relations that have developed recently.

Reagan’s first one-on-one session with Gorbachev was scheduled to last 45 minutes, but it continued for 71 minutes as the two leaders covered a broad range of subjects touching on all four of the major areas for summit discussion--human rights, arms control, regional issues and bilateral issues.

The President began the session by bringing up the sensitive issue of human rights and presenting Gorbachev with a list of 14 human rights cases that are of special concern to the United States. The Soviet leader responded, according to Soviet spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov, by suggesting that the President’s view of Soviet conduct was distorted because it was based on what has taken place in the past, not by what is occurring today.

Emphasis Called Tactless

In interviews Sunday on American television networks, Gerasimov and another Soviet spokesman, Georgy A. Arbatov, a specialist in U.S. relations, said Gorbachev considered the U.S. emphasis on human rights to be tactless, although they said the Soviets have no objection to discussing the issue as long as it remained a two-way street.

Gerasimov, speaking at a joint press conference here with White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, conceded that the Soviets still have a human rights problem, but he insisted that the United States does too and that Gorbachev’s point in suggesting both sides study the problem was that it was better to consider it in a businesslike way than to resort to “sensational elements and propaganda spirit.”

Gorbachev proposed that members of the Supreme Soviet, or Parliament, hold regular seminars with members of the U.S. Congress to discuss human rights and other bilateral issues. He also suggested again that the two superpowers consider joint research on space flights to Mars and perhaps participate in a joint flight to the planet in the future.

Both Gerasimov and Fitzwater said that the President indicated he would take the proposals under consideration.

Opinions Expressed in ‘Depth’

Gerasimov and Fitzwater both indicated that human rights was a dominant issue at the first meeting, with the Soviet saying the leaders expressed their opinions in “depth.” While Soviet officials are expressing “regret” about the attention that the human rights issue is getting in the Western press--and buttonholing journalists to make that point--one official commented: “It’s probably better to get this out of the way in the first day or so, so we can turn to the other issues on the agenda. . . . We understand the American tendency to push the topic, but for us the first human right is the right to life. So that’s why, for us, disarmament is the principal topic on the agenda.”

It was clear, meanwhile, that Gorbachev regards improvements in U.S.-Soviet relations as a valuable element in his bid to build the political base power necessary to press his reform programs. A commentary in Pravda, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper, attributed improvements over the past two to three years to the change in Soviet policies under Gorbachev, who came to power in March, 1985.

Another issue that could cause friction between the two superpowers at the summit here involves problems that have developed in the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The Soviets have warned that they may feel compelled to reconsider pulling out their troops if arms shipments aiding anti-Soviet guerrillas based in Pakistan are not halted.

Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the Soviet foreign minister, was planning to press Secretary of State George P. Shultz hard on the Afghanistan question, according to Soviet officials.

“The situation is becoming critical in terms of our being able to withdraw our troops as planned,” a senior Soviet official said.

Under the accord, the Soviets agreed to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan while Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs and the Soviet Union and the United States agree to guarantee the settlement. Soviet officials said Moscow wants, first of all, to pressure Pakistan to halt guerrilla activities in Pakistan and arms shipments into Afghanistan.