Amid Reports of Rift, Soviet Leaders Meet

MOSCOW — The Soviet leadership was believed to have assembled for urgent consultations Thursday amid reports of a deepening rift between Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and the nation’s most powerful conservatives.

Western diplomatic reports confirmed that the Kremlin was closed Thursday, in what was described as an unusual step indicating that the country’s rulers were meeting in secret. Although the542142316Kremlin remains open.

Diplomats said other indications of unusual activity in the Kremlin included:

--The apparent abbreviation of talks between Gorbachev and visiting Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

Shultz had been expected to meet Gorbachev this afternoon and then meet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze for what would be a fourth session of talks focusing on the upcoming U.S.-Soviet summit. But diplomats said that the Gorbachev meeting has been changed to this morning and that the afternoon session of talks with Shevardnadze has been canceled.

--No Kremlin speaker has been announced for ceremonies today marking the anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin, the founder of the Soviet state. Diplomats described it as highly unusual for the Soviets not to make an announcement in advance.

The unusual signs of activity in the Kremlin, which appear unconnected with the Shultz visit, occur at a time of increasing reports that Gorbachev has clashed repeatedly with party ideologist Yegor K. Ligachev, generally considered the No. 2 man in the Soviet hierarchy.

Period of Conflict

“It’s clear that we’re in for a protracted period of conflict at the highest levels,” said a Western analyst.

One unconfirmed rumor in Moscow held that Ligachev has been removed as the ideological eminence overseeing the media as a result of his deepening disagreement with Gorbachev over the course of the Soviet leader’s program of political and economic reforms.

Last month, the newspaper Soviet Russia published a manifesto of the anti-reform movement, which waxed nostalgic over the achievements of the late Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Some reports suggested that Ligachev had played a role in guiding the article into p1919512180written by a Leningrad teacher, appeared in the form of a letter to the editor.

Pravda Condemnation

Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, three weeks later condemned the article and Soviet Russia issued an apology.

The debate that surfaced in the newspapers, however, apparently reflects a much more serious rift that is dividing the Politburo as it prepares for a conference of the Communist Party in June, according to Western analysts.

One report had suggested that Gorbachev has twice offered to resign in order to force the issue in the Politburo, but both times the party leadership rejected his offer.

Gorbachev and his supporters have called for a “political restructuring” of the party apparatus in advance of the party conference. Since the apparent target of the political realignment 2003793260resistance, according to diplomats.

No Definitive Conclusions

In Washington, a State Department official said U.S. intelligence agencies are following the Gorbachev-Ligachev dispute closely but have reached no definitive conclusions.

“So far there is just not enough evidence to adopt a firm position on it,” one official said. “It is more than just rumors. The question is how much more.”

Stephen R. Sestanovich, director of Soviet studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the rumor that Ligachev would be promoted to the largely ceremonial post of president--now held by Andrei A. Gromyko-- “has been around for a while.” He added, “I first heard that last year. It’s not a new rumor, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

Sestanovich, a National Security Council staff member earlier in the Reagan Administration, said no one in the West knows for sure the accuracy of reports that Ligachev was reprimanded by the Politburo after the publication by the article critical of Gorbachev’s reform policy.

“If Ligachev really was reprimanded by the Politburo, it has become all-out war between him and Gorbachev,” Sestanovich said. If that happened, then either Ligachev or Gorbachev will not be there by the end of the summer.”

Gorbachev “may really be looking for a showdown to break the stalemate before the party congress,” Sestanovich said.

Impression of Disarray

Western analysts in Moscow have expressed surprise that the Politburo would quarrel openly at this time, because it creates the impression of disarray in the approach to the summit conference between Gorbachev and President Reagan, scheduled to begin in Moscow on May 29. The conventional wisdom had held that members of the leadership would seek to appear united while they are still negotiating a strategic arms treaty with the United States.

The leadership speculation largely overshadowed the U.S.- Soviet talks Thursday, which appeared to have made some progress on arms control and regional issues.

None represented a breakthrough that could produce spectacular new agreements at the summit next month, a U.S. official acknowledged, but they demonstrated continued progress in the relationship.

State Department spokesman Charles Redman said after Shultz held two rounds of talks with Shevardnadze on Thursday that the discussions took place in “a good atmosphere, as usual.” Soviet spokesmen agreed.

Two regional issues focused upon were the Middle East and the Iran-Iraq War, a U.S. official said later. “As of now, there are no breakthroughs to point to, but we might see a modicum of progress in both areas” in the joint statement ending the U.S.-Soviet talks today, he said.

Soviets Won’t Concur

He indicated that the Iran-Iraq development concerns efforts in the United Nations to obtain a cease-fire ending the war. But he hinted that the Soviets are still not prepared to go along with an American-led effort to impose an arms embargo against Iran for failing to heed the U.N. cease-fire resolution adopted last July.

On the Middle East, Shultz discussed his peace efforts in the region, and Shevardnadze spoke on the recent visit here of Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. There was no indication of what progress has been achieved.

In arms control, the Soviets have submitted a draft agreement on space and defense issues, matching comparable language proposed last month by the United States, the official said. However, the two texts remain far apart on their substance despite the procedural progress.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster, in Washington, contributed to this story.