Top Soviet Aide Hurls Barbs at Reagan

GENEVA — The Soviet Union escalated its pre-summit propaganda offensive Friday, aiming barbs at President Reagan personally rather than his military and foreign policies.

Georgy A. Arbatov, a high Kremlin official, cracked several jokes at Reagan’s expense at a press conference just four days before the President’s meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev here.

A reporter noted that Reagan, while preparing for the summit, had been watching television films of Gorbachev in action and asked if the Soviet leader was watching films of Reagan.

“He does not need 10-minute video clips,” Arbatov replied. “He has a long concentration span. He can read and work a lot.”

Another questioner wanted to know if Gorbachev had ever seen any of the movies Reagan made as an actor, and Arbatov quipped: “They were B-rated movies, anyway.”

In his wisecracks, Arbatov departed from the reticence shown by Gorbachev in refraining from attacking Reagan personally, and his subordinates have generally followed his lead.

Reflected Soviet Doubts

Western officials said afterward that the humor reflected deeply held doubts in the Kremlin about the 74-year-old Reagan’s capacity to carry out sustained negotiations.

Ever since Secretary of State George P. Shultz met with Gorbachev two weeks ago in Moscow, the Soviets and the nation’s controlled media have been sharply critical of U.S. policies.

The attacks reached a crescendo this week when the Soviet Foreign Ministry staged a propaganda spectacular involving Vitaly Yurchenko, the KGB officer who returned to Moscow after apparently defecting to the CIA. Yurchenko appeared at a news conference, and large parts of it were shown on Soviet television. Western diplomats described the performance as a bad omen for the summit meeting.

A Soviet source with access to high Kremlin officials said the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting may turn out to be a propaganda battle with no significant accomplishments.

In the Soviets’ continuing bid to call world attention to their point of view, Arbatov indicated that Gorbachev may hold a news conference while he is in Geneva.

No Interest in Annual Meetings

While Reagan has proposed annual summit meetings with Gorbachev, including perhaps a session in the United States, the Soviet source said the Soviet leader is not interested in making any such visit as long as Reagan is President.

The Soviets have scheduled another news conference for today, on regional conflicts, and they are expected to criticize U.S. policy on Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan and other trouble spots.

Reagan has said that regional wars, especially those in which rebel forces are challenging Soviet-backed regimes, should be the major topic at the summit meeting, and he has accused the Soviet Union of trying to extend its power in Afghanistan and Central America. In response, the Kremlin has charged that the United States is aligned with Israel to dominate the Middle East.

Arbatov, a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party and an adviser to Gorbachev on Soviet-American relations, has spearheaded the Kremlin’s pre-summit offensive in Geneva.

Another member of the advance guard is Leonid M. Zamyatin, the Kremlin’s spokesman for Gorbachev’s trip to Paris in early October.

Vladimir B. Lomeiko, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, was expected to arrive well before the talks begin, along with Vladimir S. Mikoyan, a former press spokesman for the Soviet embassy in Washington.

While the Soviet team was getting off to a fast start, there was no effective American spokesman at the big U.S. press center here.

The President is scheduled to arrive tonight and is expected to issue a statement at the airport.