Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 4, 1990 TAG: 9006040078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREW ROSENTHAL THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A possible new difficulty emerged at a final joint news conference in the White House when Gorbachev nettled the Bush administration with a warning he might consider holding up Jewish emigration unless Israel guaranteed that Soviet Jews would not be resettled in the occupied territories.
American officials said such action would further complicate what already promised to be a tough fight over approval of the trade treaty signed just two days ago, which is predicated on legal codification of improvements in Soviet emigration policy.
The seriousness of Gorbachev's threat remains to be seen.
Israeli officials said Sunday they were not encouraging Soviet Jews to settle in occupied areas, and only a very small number of the 10,000 Soviet Jews arriving monthly had sought to live there.
But Israel has shown no sign so far it would be willing to prevent immigrants from going there.
Despite their words of mutual respect, Bush and Gorbachev said they remained at odds over the Kremlin's test of wills with leaders of the Baltic republics, who have declared independence from the Soviet Union.
Bush did offer a gesture to the Kremlin by saying he was not formally linking the issue of Lithuanian independence with the decision on when to submit the newly signed trade agreement for Senate consideration.
The only linkage, he said, was to Soviet passage of a law permitting unfettered emigration.
But other American officials have said there is little chance for approval of the trade pact while Moscow maintains its oil and natural gas blockade of Lithuania.
After three days of intensive talks the two presidents said they had made no movement toward an understanding on the future alignment of the two Germanys, which are headed for unification.
The United States and other Western countries say a united Germany should be part of NATO, while the Soviet side wants Germany's future to be overseen by an all-Europe council.
Sunday, as throughout the summit meeting, there were frequent reminders of Gorbachev's domestic political and economic problems, which have shown a tendency to intrude into Soviet-American relations.
But the two presidents' final hours together before Gorbachev departed for Minneapolis and San Francisco were marked by repeated expressions of confidence in their ability to resolve problems.
They issued two additional joint statements, one about joint efforts to end the civil war in Ethiopia and the other about cooperation on environmental questions.
They announced plans to meet more frequently, perhaps in annual working meetings that lack the ceremony and political expectations of a formal summit conference, which is usually arranged for signing major agreements.
"We're now at the stage in the U.S.-Soviet relationship and, indeed, in world history where we should miss no opportunity to complete the extraordinary tasks before us," Bush said.
Gorbachev, who seemed to revel in Bush's respect and in the applause of the American public, spoke of a "qualitatively new relationship."
He offered extraordinary praise to Bush "as a political leader who is able, in a very human way, and in a politically responsible way, to engage in dialogue and cooperation."
The summit ended Sunday morning much as it began Thursday morning, with ceremonies that dramatized the markedly different tone of the meeting itself and of Soviet-American relations.
At the North Portico of the White House, the presidents' wives, Raisa Gorbachev and Barbara Bush, embraced as their husbands went through the formalities of a departure ceremony before the Gorbachevs left on a trip to Minneapolis and San Francisco.
Gorbachev paused for a moment before a cheering crowd, his hands clasped like a victorious boxer, before sweeping off in his Zil limousine.
An hour earlier, the two leaders had walked together down a red-carpeted hallway to the East Room.
They sat before reporters, certainly not as allies, but as friendly rivals talking about banishing suspicion and emphasizing the importance of the documents signed on Friday, including commitments to reduce their long-range nuclear arms and to make deep cuts in stockpiles of poison gas.
by CNB