White House Says It Threatened to Use Force to Aid Soviet Sailor

State Department officials were aware that a ship-jumping Soviet merchant seaman told an interpreter that he wanted to remain in the United States, but the officials nevertheless determined--on the basis of later questioning--that he was not seeking political asylum, department spokesman Bernard Kalb said Friday.

At the White House, officials said the Administration had warned the Soviet Union at one point last week that the United States was ready to use military force, if necessary, to remove the sailor from the ship for questioning about his apparent efforts to defect.

Defector to Testify

As the controversy over the fate of the sailor, Miroslav Medvid, continued to boil, California Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) announced that a House subcommittee plans hearings on the incident next week and that witnesses will include Simas Kudirka, a Lithuanian seaman who jumped ship in a similar incident in 1970.

Kudirka was returned screaming to his ship and later served time in a Soviet prison camp before being allowed to emigrate in 1974. He now lives in Santa Monica. Other witnesses will include State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Coast Guard officials and Soviet defector Arkady N. Shevchenko.

Lantos, in a letter to President Reagan, urged the U.S. government to prevent Medvid from leaving the country until he has been given an opportunity to reconsider his decision.

Kalb said that “we were aware” of a conversation with Medvid during which he told INS officials that he wanted to remain in the United States, “and we questioned him repeatedly about remarks he made in this conversation.”

Kalb added: “From the moment we became involved, our operating assumption was that Mr. Medvid’s behavior, in jumping from the Soviet ship, was a strong indication that he wished to remain in this country. That is why we went to such extraordinary lengths to interview him in a secure location, under our control, to ascertain his intentions.”

Jumped Into River

Medvid jumped into the Mississippi near New Orleans on Oct. 24. According to Irene Padoch, a free-lance interpreter who talked to him by telephone for the INS, Medvid said he wanted to remain in the United States. However, immigration authorities returned him to the Soviet ship.

Later, the State Department insisted on questioning Medvid in an environment free of Soviet coercion.

“The President authorized the use of force to get the sailor off the ship if that was necessary,” said a White House official who asked not to be identified, adding that the Soviets were informed of that decision.

Interview Permitted

The Coast Guard reportedly was prepared to take action to free Medvid. However, the threat of force became moot when the Soviets allowed the sailor to be interviewed.

During that session, the department said, Medvid repeatedly asked to return to the Soviet Union.

Kalb said he had no explanation of why Medvid jumped off the ship in the first place or why he told Padoch what he did.