THE COUNSELOR DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON March 25 1976 THE SECRETARY FROM Helmut Sonnenfeldt SUBJECT Conversation with Vorontsov After I protested to Vorontsov concerning their latest harassment campaign against our Moscow Embassy I spoke to him privately I told him we had instructed our spokesman to acknowledge that we had had a reply on SALT that it contained Soviet considerations on the issues and that we were studying it Vorontsov said this was a good thing to do since Senators and others were beginning to attack the Soviets for dragging their feet I said we had not said that In response to my question Vorontsov reiterated that the purport of the Soviet response was to indicate that they had felt we were on the way to a solution during the Moscow talks and that they had noted press stories that after North Carolina the President would be wholly absorbed by domestic politics and that he would not be ready to focus on SALT again until after the Convention or at any rate would not want to have any agreement until after that Moscow he said was not inclined to impose on the President in these circumstances I said this was all speculation and that if there were any additional considerations in Moscow it certainly will be quite possible to deal with them here whatever the President's campaign schedule In any case we were continuing to study the situation and hoped Moscow would not stand still I then said that the PNE talks were going nowhere fast and it looks like March 31 will come and go without agreement Vorontsov said this will require some diplomatic action with respect to the TTBT I said we were considering how to handle the passing of the originally envisaged effective date for the TTBT Vorontsov asked whether we were yet ready to consult on their broader proposal on mass destruction weapons I said this remained under study but I personally found it hard to SE T SENSITIVE -2- get my teeth into the concept Vorontsov said they were interested in our ideas as Korniyenko had told Stoessel and he Vorontsov had mentioned to you I said the matter remained under study Vorontsov asked whether we would have any further response on their proposals for a comprehensive test ban I said I thought Ikle had given him our views which remained as they were I reminded Vorontsov that in our last conversation I had urged him to stress in Moscow that we still wanted a positive response from them on the radiation issue in Moscow Vorontsov said he had reported that but nothing had yet been received He said that in Moscow they were so mad about what had been happening to their facilities and people in New York that he thought they had not been able to bring themselves to respond on the radiation I said we had not linked these matters though they quite probably would be in our press because of the additional harassment against our Embassy in recent days I said the Soviets should not be making the connection since their radiation had been going on for many years and was a form of harassment that should cease under any circumstances I said we were coming up to the point where further publicity would become unavoidable We were briefing as we had to personnel who have served in Moscow over the past years and sooner or later this will become public We would then have to say that our efforts to get the signals turned off had failed He at once said Don't do that please The matter is not dead We will reply I said time was getting short and he should report to Moscow again that a response was essential so that this form of action against us will be stopped I said in conclusion that we had noted the Soviet role on the matter of the South Africans in Angola Vorontsov pointed out that Gromyko had publicly stated in London that the Soviets were not going to get involved outside Angola I said I hoped this was so and that now they should also get the Cubans out of there Vorontsov said the Cubans would probably be staying awhile but not for the purpose of other interventions He said he did not like our escalating rhetoric about the Soviets and Cubans in Southern Africa and that he hoped Gromyko's comments would have an effect I said we had taken their involvement in Angola very seriously indeed and remained greatly concerned about further interventions So we have to make it known Vorontsov said he was sure we were inspiring S T SENSITIVE ' T SENSITIVE -3- the press reports about contingency plans for blockades and invasions We should remember that all these stories are copiously reported to Moscow by TASS I said we were not inspiring this kind of speculation at all but our authoritative statements about Cuban intervention were a reflection of the very serious view we take of any such prospect Vorontsov said Dobrynin was out of the hospital and recuperating S T SENSITIVE