Soviets to offer draft treaty on strategic arms

The Soviet Union yesterday made new proposals to ban space weapons, saying Washington must accept such restraints if it wants deep cuts in long-range missile arsenals. Alexei Obukhov, deputy leader of the Soviet arms delegation, said that Moscow would present a draft treaty on long-range, or strategic, nuclear arms ``in a few days,'' but emphasized that such an accord could be signed only after space weapons were banned.

``It is simply not possible for the two [issues] to be de-linked,'' he told reporters at the Soviet diplomatic mission, where the Soviets outlined the proposals at a special plenary session. Mr. Obukhov was waiting for the full United States arms negotiating team to arrive. He said that US proposals on Tuesday on intermediate-range arms were ``not constructive.''

``I didn't find any compromises in what I was told yesterday, unfortunately,'' he said. ``Maybe I will have to study them more closely to find the compromises.''

President Reagan has said his arms control priority is securing 50 percent cuts in the superpower strategic arsenals. The Kremlin has taken a tough stand on cuts in strategic weapons since the superpowers resumed arms control efforts in March 1985. It has persistently linked cuts to banning space arms.