Will Keep Some Troops in Europe, Bush Pledges

President Bush today hailed the “peaceful revolution” sweeping Communist Eastern Europe, but pledged the United States would keep “significant military forces” on the continent as long as allied leaders want them there.

Bush, who spent the weekend in summit talks with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, emerged from a meeting with NATO leaders to praise the Soviet leader’s handling of the changes throughout the Eastern Bloc. He said it “absolutely mandates new thinking” on the part of Western leaders.

At the same time, Bush wouldn’t go along with Gorbachev’s post-summit declaration on Sunday that the world is leaving the “epoch of the Cold War.”

Said Bush: “If I signal to you there’s no Cold War then they’ll say, ‘Well, what are you doing with troops in Europe?’ ”

Earlier, in a statement opening his news conference, Bush said the Western alliance “must remain strong,” and said the United States “will maintain significant military forces in Europe as long as our allies desire our presence.”

Asked what had emerged at the summit, Bush said, “I think he took my measure and I took his and I think we both feel more comfortable about our common objectives.”

He said Gorbachev was “determined and unemotional “ in their private talks. The Soviet leader “seemed very much in control” and “very confident in discussing without notes a wide array of subjects with me.”

Bush was asked whether the improvement in East-West relations could free money for domestic programs such as education and the homeless. “I think it is premature to speak as some are at home about a peace dividend,” he said.

Bush noted large federal deficits and said there isn’t “excess money” available.

Bush’s meeting with NATO leaders was private. But Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek told reporters the President said the superpower leaders agreed in Malta to aim for an East-West summit in Vienna next summer to sign a landmark treaty reducing conventional forces in Europe.

“Let’s get it done,” the President said at his news conference. He said he wants the accord “in the bank” before moving on to more complicated matters.

Bush was to fly home shortly after his news conference.