The World - News from July 29, 1986

Secretary of State George P. Shultz and a senior Kremlin official met in the first high-level exchange in more than three months to begin preliminary planning for the next U.S.-Soviet summit. Shultz’s meeting in Washington with Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh marked the resumption of quiet nuts-and-bolts diplomacy between the superpowers after months in which President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev bombarded each other with speeches and other public statements. A State Department official said some progress was made during the talks but declined to disclose details.