Carter said to have asked Brandt to aid detente

Der Spiegel, the West German newsmagazine, reported Sunday that President Carter had asked former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt earlier this month to help Washington and Moscow revive detente.

The President had said it was vital for the United States and Soviet Union to resume contacts, frozen after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Mr. Brandt, famed for his "Ostpolitik" of a decade ago that normalized ties between Bonn and Eastern Europe, cautiously agreed, but said conditions were not yet right for a trip to Moscow, the magazine said.

A spokesman for the Social Democratic Party said the article was speculation. Mr. Brandt had spoken with Mr. Carter this month, but was not at present planning a trip to Moscow, the spokesman added.