COLD WAR TO MOSCOW, WITH CAUTION THE PATTERN OF ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE 
MIGHT BE SYMBOLIC . BY WEEK'S END EVERYONE IN MOSCOW BELIEVED 
THAT THE RED CHINESE DELEGATION WAS READY TO HEAD HOME BEFORE 
TOO LONG . AT THE SAME TIME, U.S . AND BRITISH 
DELEGATIONS WERE DUE TO ARRIVE . THE RUSSIANS WERE JAMMING RADIO 
PEKING BUT LET THE VOICE OF AMERICA COME IN LOUD AND 
CLEAR . FACED WITH THE OPEN CHINESE CHALLENGE TO SOVIET LEADERSHIP 
OF WORLD COMMUNISM, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV MAY WANT TO EASE TENSIONS WITH 
THE WEST, BOTH TO BULWARK HIS POSITION AT HOME AND TO 
DEMONSTRATE THE GENUINENESS OF HIS MUCH-HERALDED COEXISTENCE POLICY ABROAD . BUT 
WHETHER KHRUSHCHEV WANTS IT BADLY ENOUGH TO MAKE SOME REALLY MEANINGFUL 
CONCESSIONS IS STILL ANOTHER QUESTION . THE ISSUES . AS HE 
FLEW OFF TO MOSCOW FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF TEST-BAN TALKS, PRESIDENTIAL 
ENVOY AVERELL HARRIMAN NOTED HOPEFULLY THAT RUSSIA WAS BEING MORE PLEASANT 
IN " THE SMALL THINGS OF LIFE . " AS FOR 
THE BIG THINGS, " WE ARE GOING IN GOOD FAITH AND 
IN THE HOPE OF ACHIEVING SOME STEPS THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL 
. " THE PRINCIPAL ISSUES FACING HARRIMAN AND HIS FELLOW NEGOTIATOR, 
BRITISH MINISTER OF SCIENCE VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, IN MOSCOW . . .TEST 
BAN : KHRUSHCHEV HAS INDICATED THAT HE WOULD REVIVE RUSSIA'S 1961 
TERMS FOR A TEST BAN, WHICH INCLUDED A VOLUNTARY MORATORIUM ON 
UNDERGROUND DETONATIONS, WITHOUT EFFECTIVE CONTROLS . THIS PROPOSAL WAS REJECTED BY 
THE U.S . AT . THE TIME . THEN, LAST YEAR, 
RUSSIA OFFERED TO PERMIT THREE INSPECTIONS OF ITS TERRITORY YEARLY BY 
WAY OF POLICING AN UNDERGROUND BAN . MOSCOW SUBSEQUENTLY RENEGED, KHRUSHCHEV 
NOW INSISTS THAT RUSSIA WILL NEVER " OPEN ITS DOOR TO 
NATO SPIES, " AND THAT " THIS IS NO SUBJECT FOR 
BARGAINING . " THE WEST WILL NOT ACCEPT AN UNENFORCEABLE MORATORIUM 
ON UNDERGROUND TESTS, SINCE IT BELIEVES THAT THE RUSSIANS WOULD BREAK 
IT AT WILL, AS THEY VIOLATED THE VOLUNTARY TEST BAN IN 
1961 . HOWEVER, IF RUSSIA AGREES TO A TREATY THAT SIMPLY 
FORBIDS TESTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH ARE EASILY DETECTABLE THE WEST 
IS WILLING TO TAKE UP THE PROBLEM OF UNDERGROUND TESTING AT 
A LATER DATE . .NONAGGRESSION PACT . KHRUSHCHEV DECLARED THAT " 
AT THE CONCLUSION OF A TESTBAN AGREEMENT, " HE WILL REVIVE 
RUSSIA'S HOARY DEMAND FOR A NONAGGRESSION PACT BETWEEN THE 15 NATO 
POWERS AND THE SATELLITE NATIONS OF THE WARSAW TREATY . IN 
THE PAST, THIS PROPOSAL HAS INVARIABLY BEEN REJECTED BY THE WEST 
BECAUSE WEST GERMANY AND FRANCE OBJECT THAT IT WOULD IMPLY WESTERN 
ACCEPTANCE OF A DIVIDED EUROPE AND RECOGNITION OF EAST GERMANY . 
IN ANY CASE, THEY POINT OUT, NO SUCH DECLARATION IS NEEDED, 
FOR NATO'S DEFENSIVE PURPOSES WERE GUARANTEED IN ITS CHARTER 14 YEARS 
AGO . THE PROSPECTS . U.S . POLICYMAKERS EMPHASIZE THAT A 
TEST-BAN TREATY WOULD HAVE LITTLE IF ANY EFFECT ON THE BALANCE 
OF POWER . SINCE BOTH EAST AND WEST HAVE MORE THAN 
ENOUGH NUCLEAR WARHEADS FOR ANY CONCEIVABLE CONFLICT, THE ONLY WAY EITHER 
SIDE COULD GAIN A DECISIVE STRATEGIC LEAD WOULD BE THROUGH A 
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN MISSILE DELIVERY SYSTEMS, WHICH WOULD NOT BE COVERED 
BY THE TEST BAN . IN ANY CASE, NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY IS 
NOW SO ADVANCED THAT WEAPONS SUCH AS THE ANTI-MISSILE MISSILE CAN 
BE DEVELOPED ENTIRELY IN THE LABORATORY . FURTHERMORE, NO WESTERN STATESMAN 
BELIEVES THAT A TEST-BAN AGREEMENT WILL RESTRAIN THE FRENCH OR CHINESE 
FROM TESTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AT WILL, OR EVEN SLOW THE SPREAD 
OF NUCLEAR ARMS TO OTHER NATIONS . WHY, THEN, IS THE 
WEST SO EAGER TO SIGN A NUCLEAR PACT WITH RUSSIA ? 
RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, WASHINGTON HAS COME TO VIEW A TEST-BAN TREATY 
AS THE TOUCHSTONE OF SOVIET INTENTIONS . IF THIS ONE OUTSTANDING 
ISSUE CAN BE RESOLVED AFTER FIVE YEARS OF FRUSTRATION, THE STATE 
DEPARTMENT BELIEVES, THEN THERE IS HOPE THAT EAST AND WEST MAY 
ULTIMATELY BE ABLE TO SETTLE OTHER ISSUES . THOUGH HARRIMAN IS 
EMPOWERED ONLY TO NEGOTIATE A TEST-BAN AGREEMENT, HE EXPECTS TO " 
EXPLORE " OTHER COLD WAR PROBLEMS, SUCH AS BERLIN AND RUSSIA'S 
FAILURE TO ENFORCE THE LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY PACT . ON THOSE MATTERS 
KHRUSHCHEV SO FAR DID NOT APPEAR TO BUDGE . TALKING TO 
BELGIUM'S FOREIGN MINISTER PAUL-HENRI SPAAK IN KIEV LAST WEEK, KHRUSHCHEV SAID 
: " BERLIN IS THE FOOT THAT KENNEDY HAS IN EUROPE 
. EVERY TIME I WANT TO, I'LL STAMP ON IT . 
" IN SHORT, THE EAST-WEST TALKS IN MOSCOW MAY JUST POSSIBLY 
PROVE NO MORE FRUITFUL THAN THE SINO-SOVIET TALKS . BUT U.S 
. OBSERVERS STILL WONDER HOW LONG KHRUSHCHEV CAN GO ON FIGHTING 
A TWOFRONT WAR, REFUSING BOTH CONCESSIONS TO PEKING AND A GENUINE 
MOVE TOWARD " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " WITH THE WEST . 