Gorbachev in Iceland, Urges End of A-Arms

REYKJAVIK, Iceland —  Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived today for a short-notice summit with President Reagan, saying the superpower leaders bear a “responsibility for the destiny of the world” and calling for total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Reagan, who is to sit down with the Kremlin leader Saturday for the first of three rounds of private talks, spent the day in last-minute meetings with his top policy aides, who said the issue of human rights in the Soviet Union ranks as high on the American agenda as arms control.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said the U.S. objective is to prepare the way for a full-scale summit later this year in the United States.

“And the way you prepare it is you try to punch the ball along in the various places . . . and I think there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll succeed in that,” Shultz said.

Not Expected to Set Date

U.S. officials, continuing to minimize expectations, said the Administration does not expect the date for another summit to be agreed on this weekend.

“There will be an exchange,” Assistant Secretary of State Rozanne Ridgway told reporters, “and what will come of it, we’ll see.”

Reagan, asked after a brief meeting with Icelandic President Vigdis Finnbogadottir whether he shares Soviet optimism that the meeting will yield significant progress, said: “I hope their hopes are realized.”

Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, in contrast to Reagan’s low-key arrival after nightfall Thursday, stepped off an Aeroflot jetliner at Keflavik airfield just as the sun broke through a midday overcast. With his blue-gray overcoat tugged tight against the wind, the Soviet general secretary sketched an agenda for the talks with his brief remarks.

‘Sense of Responsibility’

After thanking the Icelandic government for slapping together arrangements for the summit on just 10 days notice, Gorbachev said he believed he and Reagan share “the same sense of responsibility for the destiny of the world. . . .

“The time which we are living through demands actions on the part of the great powers, the Soviet Union and the United States.”

Chief among the “burning issues” facing the superpowers, Gorbachev said, is “to take the decision that would remove the threat of nuclear war.” The goal, he said through a translator, “is the final elimination of nuclear weapons by the year 2000.”

U.S. Plans ‘News Blackout’

Reagan did not make any comments when he arrived Thursday, apparently in keeping with a U.S. plan to impose a “news blackout” on the talks and an effort to keep the meeting basically an informal session where the two men can agree on the general direction of U.S.-Soviet relations.

When Reagan was asked this afternoon if he could “do business” with Gorbachev, he said, “We’re sure going to find out.”

Gorbachev’s surprise invitation to Reagan last month for what is being called a “mini-summit” raised the possibility that the two sides may be close to a breakthrough on an interim agreement on reducing intermediate range nuclear missile forces in Europe.