U.S. Expels 25 Soviet U.N. Envoys : Says Move Is Not Related to Daniloff Case; Protest Likely

WASHINGTON —  The Reagan Administration today ordered the expulsion of 25 U.N.-based Soviet diplomats, but denied that the action was related to the spy charges Moscow has filed against American journalist Nicholas Daniloff.

State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said the expulsion was a follow-up to a U.S. decision announced six months ago, to force cutbacks in the Soviets’ U.N. presence. The Administration has maintained that the Soviet staff at the United Nations is disproportionately large and engages in spy activities.

For their part, the Soviets have insisted that the required reductions violate the obligations the United States has undertaken as host country for the United Nations.

Must Leave by Oct. 1

The names of the personnel affected by the order were turned over to Soviet officials by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Vernon A. Walters. The 25 were given until Oct. 1 to leave the country.

The Soviet U.N. Mission immediately signaled that it will resist the order.

“I think there will be a protest,” Valentin G. Karymov, a senior counselor at the Soviet mission, told a reporter by telephone. The diplomat, however, said the U.S. note would first be studied by Moscow before a formal response is made.

While the Administration has promised retaliation in the Daniloff case, Kalb was categorical in stating that the expulsion order “is not related” to that issue.

U.S. ‘Plan of Action’

Secretary of State George P. Shultz had said Tuesday night that the United States has a “plan of action” for dealing with the Daniloff case but declined to give details. He said the issue has “put a cloud” over Soviet-American relations.

Last March, the Reagan Administration announced that the Soviets would be required to reduce their U.N. staff from 275 to 170 over a two-year period in increments of roughly 25 every six months.

The Soviet delegation is more than twice the size of the next largest delegation.

Of the 105 to be sent home, a small number would be attached to the staffs of two Soviet republics, the Ukraine and Byelorussia, both of which have U.N. seats. All 25 affected by today’s announcement, however, represent Moscow’s delegation.

No Spying Indication

But Kalb refused to say whether any had engaged in spying.

Since March, the spokesman said, “the Soviet mission has rebuffed repeated U.S. requests that it cooperate in implementing the necessary reduction by advising us which positions would be eliminated to achieve the ceilings established.

“As a result, the U.S. has been obliged to take steps of its own to ensure compliance,” he said.

The Soviets have 243 diplomats attached to the United Nations while the two Soviet republics have a combined total of 32.

A U.S. official who asked not to be identified said the Soviet total has dropped below 243, but added that the Soviets have never indicated that any of those who departed did so as a result of the expulsion order of last March.

In any case, he said, the Soviets will be operating under a ceiling of 218 until the United States orders the withdrawal of an additional group of diplomats, presumably next March.