Soviets Indicate That Gorbachev Will Not Visit Japan; Island Dispute Cited

The Soviet Union indicated Friday that a visit to Japan by Kremlin leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, earlier expected to take place this month, is unlikely while Tokyo publicly presses claims on Soviet-held islands off Japan’s northern main island.

The signal came in a commentary in the Communist Party newspaper Pravda which accused Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s government of whipping up “unfriendly, chauvinistic feelings” at home and lining up with U.S. “anti-Soviet” strategy.

Nakasone last week made a tour of Eastern Europe that diplomatic sources have said was arranged to convince Moscow of Tokyo’s good faith after Gorbachev appeared to be pulling back from the proposed visit to Japan.

Japanese sources said agreement in principle on the visit, which would be the first by a top Soviet leader, had been reached at discussions last September between Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and his Japanese counterpart Tadashi Kuranari.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Moscow had received no official word that Gorbachev would not visit Japan.

A ministry spokesman said Japan’s position on a visit is unchanged. “We have reiterated many times our invitation to Gorbachev to visit at any time,” he said. “The ball is in the Soviet court.”