Soviet Union: Strong Possibility of a Visit

New Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev might visit the U.S. this year. Late last week the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun quoted Viktor Afanasyev, editor in chief of Pravda, as saying that a "strong possibility" exists that Gorbachev will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in September. There was no word on whether Gorbachev would also meet with President Reagan, who proposed a summit meeting in a letter to Gorbachev following the death of Konstantin Chernenko.

The speed with which Gorbachev was ratified as the General Secretary of the Communist Party--less than 24 hours after Chernenko's death--puzzled Western diplomats. Some insight into Gorbachev's confirmation emerged last week with the release of Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko's nominating speech to the Central Committee. The address seemed to Western analysts to have been aimed at blunting potential criticism that Gorbachev, 54, was too outspoken. Gromyko lauded the new leader for expressing himself with a "Leninist directness." Gromyko also stressed that Gorbachev had in effect been "brilliantly" running the country during Chernenko's illness.