News In Brief

Soviets greet Western shift but say a move is up to US

A senior Soviet commentator cautiously welcomed what he termed a shift in Western attitudes to Moscow Tuesday but said it was still up to the United States to make the first move toward easing East-West tensions.

Writing in the Moscow daily Sovietskaya Rossiya, Gennady Shishkin said the Kremlin wanted ''honest, equitable, and mutually advantageous cooperation'' with all countries, especially the United States.

Sen. William Cohen (R) of Maine held talks with Kremlin officials for more than two hours Monday on President Reagan's ''build-down'' disarmament proposal and said he sensed a new Soviet willingness to deal with arms control questions.