U.S. Secretary of State George Shultzwas holding several hours of talks with Soviet Foreign Minister
Eduard Shevardnadze today in pursuit of the first superpower
arms control agreement in nearly a decade.
    Shultz, accompanied by a panoply of senior advisers and
technical experts, went directly into a closed-door meeting
with Shevardnadze and the Soviet delegation after arriving in
Moscow from Helsinki aboard a U.S. Air Force jet.
    State Department spokesman Charles Redman told reporters
traveling with the secretary that as the crucial talks got
under way, U.S. Arms control advisers were instructed not to
discuss the substance of the American proposals with the press.
    It has been reported previously that some of the proposals
-- such as those dealing with President Ronald Reagan's "Star
Wars" space shield against enemy missiles -- represent a
hardening of the U.S. Position.
    Nevertheless, U.S. Officials have been optimistic about the
possibility of progress on arms control during the talks, which
are scheduled to end Wednesday.
    Reagan, who is believed to want an agreement before he
leaves office in 1989, said last week that a breakthrough on an
accord eliminating intermediate-range missiles (INF) in Europe
was a distinct possibility.
 Reuter
