Diplomacy: On the Road Again

Even before Mikhail Gorbachev, 53, the fast-rising heir apparent in the Kremlin, touched down last Saturday at London's Heathrow Airport, British officials were busy trying to downplay the importance of his eight-day official visit. The British feared that the trip would focus too much Western attention on his status as the most likely successor to Soviet Leader Konstantin Chernenko. That in turn might weaken Gorbachev's chances and strengthen those of his chief rival for the job, Grigori Romanov, 61, a fellow Politburo member widely considered to be a dogmatic hardliner. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will be looking for any clues to Soviet thinking on arms control in view of next month's meeting between Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.

Said a Western diplomat in Moscow: "This is a big moment for Gorbachev. He will be watched by the foreign audience, but he will also be watched very closely by the Soviet leadership. He can help himself or hurt himself."