The sharp Soviet reaction to the U.S. attack on... - UPI Archives

WASHINGTON -- The sharp Soviet reaction to the U.S. attack on Libya has diminished to near-zero the chances for a Reagan-Gorbachev summit this summer, officials said Tuesday, but they believe Moscow still wants a meeting this year.

In Moscow, the Kremlin announced that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had canceled a scheduled May 14-16 meeting of Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and Secretary of State George Shultz because of Monday's 'criminal' U.S. bombing raids on Tripoli and Benghazi, attacks President Reagan said he ordered in response to Moammar Khadafy's terrorism.

State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said U.S. Ambassador Arthur Hartman was summoned to the Soviet Foreign Ministry and told of the decision to scuttle the May meeting.

One official said, 'The Soviets, as expected, made a strong gesture in response to the bombing. But I would caution you against thinking they are cancelling the summit, just because they have called off the meeting between Shultz and Shevardnadze.'

One U.S. official compared the situation to May 1972, when the Soviets made strong publicobjections to the U.S. bombing and mining of Hanoi and Haiphong, Vietnam, but went ahead with the Brezhnev-Nixon summit in Moscow where the SALT 1 agreement was signed.

However, the cancellation of the Shultz-Shevardnadze preparation meeting next month means, according to U.S. officials, there probably will not be enough time to lay the groundwork for a summer summit.

Shultz would not be available for another meeting with the Soviet foreign minister until mid-June, virtually ruling out a meeting in July, officials said.

Shultz, in an interview with CBS News Tuesday night, said chances for a summer summit have 'obviously diminished.' But he at least left the possibility open, saying, 'On the other hand, we're prepared to do it.' He said the United States would have to wait for further Soviet reaction.

Reagan said at his news conference last week that if the summit were not held in July, it could not take place until after this fall's congressional elections, making late November or December the likely date.

During their first summit in Geneva last November, Reagan and Gorbachev, agreed to alternately host a series of annual summits beginning this year.

Officials believe that the general summit schedule remains on track, which means that the 1986 meeting in the United States, expected to be in Washington, would be devoted to sharpening the definitions of the issues. The 1987 Moscow summit would be devoted to the final negotiation and signing of the various agreements, possibly including arms control accords.

Kalb said the Soviet government, which supplies Khadafy with most of his weaponry, was told the administration has 'conclusive evidence of Khadafy's involvement in terrorism,' including the May 5 bombing of a West Berlin nightclub frequented by U.S. servicemen. One GI died.

Saying the the action against Libya 'was in no way directed against the Soviet Union,' Kalb said, 'It is up to the Soviet Union to decide what they want to do about terrorism.

'So far as we are concerned, we are very, very clear about it -- we are against it.'

Soviet charge d'affaires Oleg Sokolov was summoned to the State Department Monday night and informed of the raids on Libya. Kalb had no comment on whether the would be any further U.S.-Soviet consultations.