Envoy Sees Unchanging Soviet Course

A high-ranking Soviet official said in an interview yesterday that Yuri V. Andropov's accession to power in Russia would produce no major shift in Soviet policy toward the United States.

"There will be no basic change," said Sergei Chetvertikov, the Soviet Embassy's counselor, the third-ranking Russian post in Washington. "We will have consistency in our transfer of power."

In Town for Speech

The official made his remarks before speaking at an afternoon seminar on U.S.-Soviet relations at Harvard's Center for International Affairs. As the embassy's counselor, Chetvertikov serves a dual role as an administrator and spokesman.

In emphasizing that there would be no sudden changes in Russia following the death of Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev, Chertikov said that the U.S. government and press had "tried to read too much into" Andropov's experience as the director of Russia's KGB police service, and his thorough knowledge of the West.

He criticized U.S. leaders and the media for distorting the view Americans have of the Soviet Union by stressing negative stories which lead to the "unfortunate perception that the Soviet Union is going through both political and economic collapse."

New Initiatives

The Russian, however, indicated the Soviet Union's desire for new foreign policy initiatives.

He said there was "an obvious effort" to improve relations with China, for example. But he said this was not intended as a strategic move against the United States, adding. "We are not intending to play a China card."

The Soviet Union would also "be rethinking their military options" if the recently proposed MX missile receives approval for deployment which the Russian said would "upset the current strategic balance."

Chetvertikov also expressed a Soviet interest in getting involved in the Middle East peace process, saying. "There cannot be any peace treaty in the Middle East that does not include the Palestinians."