Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180397
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. SEEKS `RESPONSE' TO SOVIETS/ FUEL-CUTBACK NOTIFICATION HAS LITHUANIANS

That could affect negotiations on civil aviation, trade, investment and tax treaties and maritime transportation that grew out of the Malta summit meeting and that the Soviet Union is eager to conclude, officials said.

But they said the White House was not prepared to cancel the summit meeting between Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev, planned May 30-June 3.

Soviet authorities told Lithuanian officials Tuesday that they would halt crude oil supplies to Lithuania's only refinery and curb the flow of natural gas.

This set off calls in Lithuania's Parliament for scaling back independence measures.

"The most important thing right now is to get Moscow to sit down at the negotiating table," said Egidijus Bickauskas, a pro-independence deputy who has been one of those trying to bridge the chasm between Lithuania and Moscow.

He proposed that "the realization" of Lithuania's March 11 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union be suspended until at least May 1.

The Kremlin has been pressing Lithuania to rescind its declaration.

Bush summoned his top advisers, including Secretary of State James Baker, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser, to the White House Tuesday night to discuss the Lithuanian situation.

Before the meeting, Bush called the Soviet move "contrary to the approach that we have urged and that others have urged upon the Soviet Union."

"Obviously, we are watching this situation very, very closely," Bush said. "We are considering appropriate responses if these threats are implemented." But he refused to elaborate on his comments.

Residents of Lithuania reached by telephone said the possibility of fuel shortages has been worrying people all over the republic.

Even before the cutback notification from the regional gas headquarters was read to Parliament on Tuesday, the possible realization of Soviet threats caused many deputies to suggest the time had come to give in to Moscow on some major points of dispute, several people who attended the session said.

"We must find a way for Gorbachev to save face," said Kazimieras Antanavicius, a legislator and member of the collective leadership of Sajudis, the Lithuanian grass-roots independence movement.

He urged his colleagues to freeze the independence process temporarily as a sign of goodwill toward the Kremlin.

Bush refused to say what particular options he was considering and other administration officials also were careful to avoid making specific threats toward the Soviet Union.

Some officials have argued that any U.S. action, even the most innocuous, could increase public expectations that Bush would respond more harshly if the Soviet Union cracked down further on Lithuania.

Speaking in an interview with Cable News Network, President Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania declined to say what he thought Bush should do.

He said only that the United States should make clear that the "Soviet Union has no right in Lithuania, no constitutional or lawful rights."