Dynamism in U.S. Ties Sought by Gorbachev : Soviet President Says He Hopes Talks Today Will Increase Cooperation of 2 Superpowers

NEW YORK —  Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, arriving for today’s mini-summit with President Reagan and President-elect George Bush, said Tuesday that he hopes their talks will bring a “greater dynamism” to Soviet-American relations and an “expansion of cooperation” between the two superpowers.

Gorbachev, clearly determined to maintain the momentum developed in Soviet-American relations over the last four years, said he believes that the meeting, his fifth with Reagan, will “serve the best interests of the United States and the Soviet Union and, indeed, of the whole world.”

No Indication of Plans

Although Soviet officials have predicted that Gorbachev would launch Soviet diplomatic initiatives during his meetings here, arousing wide speculation that he will propose sharp reductions in both strategic and conventional armaments, he gave no indication on his arrival of what proposals he would make.

“We have not arranged any formal agenda so either side will be free, openly and frankly, to raise any questions that it wishes,” Gorbachev said of his luncheon meeting with Reagan and Bush.

And in Washington, a senior State Department official said: “There are a lot of rumors around Moscow about what Gorbachev may announce, but we’ve seen nothing substantiated.”

Arriving from Moscow on the first stage of a trip that will also take him to Havana and London, the Soviet leader was in a buoyant mood despite the 12-hour flight and was notably upbeat in his appraisal of Soviet-American relations.

Gorbachev, who conceived of this trip late last month as a major thrust in Soviet diplomacy, also will address the U.N. General Assembly today to outline Soviet views under what he calls “new political thinking” on a broad range of international issues.

“We are living in a world that is going through some very crucial changes, and all nations have their own concerns, their own interests,” Gorbachev said of his U.N. speech, the first by a Soviet head of state. “We shall be sharing our concerns and our interests in analyzing and reflecting upon the present situation.”

In Washington, Bush said he will express his desire to “go forward” in Soviet-American relations, particularly on arms control. Although he was optimistic about recent Soviet moves to respect human rights and resolve regional conflicts, he said that “some big problems” remain between the Soviet Union and the United States.

“I don’t want to raise hope,” Bush told a news conference, “and I don’t want to dash hope. But I’m not going to be prepared to go in there and start negotiating details of any kind. That is prudent foreign policy.”

Only after he had appointed all his national security advisers, he said, would he review the full range of Soviet-American relationships.

“I’m confident that the Soviets understand that,” Bush said, “and I’m confident they know our system well enough to know that it is only prudent to review foreign policy . . . and certainly to review our relationship with them. Having said that, I will make clear to President (Gorbachev) that we want to go forward.”

Bush said he will attend today’s luncheon meeting on Governors Island in New York Harbor as vice president, not as President-elect, and without his own national security advisers.

Speculation on Yazov

Speculation about today’s mini-summit was heightened when a Dutch radio station, Radio Netherlands World Service, reported that Gorbachev would offer to cut Soviet troop levels, at least in Europe, by 30%. The Dutch station also reported that Gen. Dmitri T. Yazov, the Soviet defense minister, had threatened to resign in protest.

“There will be surprises, but we had best wait to see what Gorbachev actually says,” a Soviet spokesman commented. “At the present time, I am not in a position even to say I cannot deny or confirm the Dutch report.”

The senior State Department official acknowledged that there were rumors in Moscow “of a change in the military hierarchy, possibly involving Yazov. It is coming up to a logical time for him to retire. We haven’t seen anything to connect those rumors to a policy issue on budget cuts or anything else.

“These rumors often go beyond what actually happens,” he added.

Gorbachev is accompanied by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and Alexander N. Yakovlev, the Soviet Politburo member closest to him. Anatoly F. Dobrynin, the former Soviet ambassador to Washington and now a Gorbachev adviser, also is in the delegation.

Reagan and Gorbachev are expected to review the overall status of Soviet-American relations, including arms reduction talks, cooperation on resolving regional conflicts, human rights concerns, trade and other bilateral issues.

Gorbachev particularly wants to take up the situation in Afghanistan, where the withdrawal of Soviet troops has been suspended. Moscow has been unable to stabilize the domestic political situation because of increased attacks by the rebels opposing the Kabul government.

Soviet officials also have said Moscow is considering a major initiative in cooperation with Washington to organize an international conference on the Middle East after the recent declaration by the Palestine National Council of a Palestinian state.

Trade Push Possible

Gorbachev also will meet with American businessmen during his three remaining days in New York, and U.S. officials said Tuesday they expect a Soviet push for increased trade and economic cooperation, underwritten by larger bank credits and encouraged by changes in U.S. tax laws.

Although billed as an informal farewell luncheon before Reagan leaves office next month, today’s meeting is seen as setting the tone and perhaps the substance for Soviet-American relations in the first years of the Bush Administration. Gorbachev has shown every sign of wanting to retain the initiative in that relationship.

“I am truly happy to have this new opportunity to meet with them,” Gorbachev said. “I believe that the very fact that this meeting is going to take place says a great deal, especially in terms of the active state of Soviet-American relations and discussions. . . . We can safely say even now that the conversations and the meeting itself will doubtless promote greater dynamism in the dialogue and an expansion of cooperation between our two countries.”

Times staff writer Doyle McManus contributed to this report.