‘There Are Limits’ to Patience on Lithuania, Bush Says : Diplomacy: But the President adds that he is not ready for reprisals against Moscow.

President Bush said Thursday “there are limits” to his patience as he watches Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev try to throttle back the Lithuanian independence movement but that he is not ready to take action against the Soviet Union.

As both Soviet and Lithuanian officials said that the Kremlin is increasing its economic pressure against the breakaway Baltic republic, Bush undertook a new round of consultation with allied leaders over how the West should respond.

He met with French President Francois Mitterrand in an afternoon-long summit conference on this sun-drenched island at the top of the string of Florida Keys. On Wednesday, he spoke by telephone with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In addition, Bush’s spokesman said the President will talk with other allied leaders in coming days.

In a further demonstration of the quickened pace of allied consultations, Mitterrand said Bush has agreed to the convening of a NATO summit conference during 1990. And he disclosed a French agreement with West Germany to seek expansion of the Common Market’s economic mandate to include some form of greater security cooperation among the members of the European Community--a “confederation” that could further cement the ties of a unified Germany to the West.

Bush said he sees no threat to U.S. interests as a result of such a “confederation.”

Thus far, the President has declined to carry out what he had said Tuesday would be “appropriate responses” to a cutoff of Soviet energy supplies to Lithuania. Asked at a 72-minute news conference after his meeting with Mitterrand whether there is a limit to his patience, Bush said:

“Yes, there are limits. And having said that, I am convinced that Mr. Gorbachev knows that there are limits in terms of this matter. I don’t think there will be a misunderstanding on this point. None at all. We have been in touch, and I don’t think there can be that big a communications gap at all.”

Bush, who said he has been unable to confirm just what actions the Soviets have taken toward Lithuania, said the dispute “must be dealt with through dialogue so that the Lithuanian people’s rights to self-determination can be realized.”

Echoing words used a week ago when he met in Bermuda with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Bush added, “we’re deeply disturbed” by Soviet statements and actions.

Bush said he is reluctant to outline specific U.S. responses, in order to “keep open a dialogue and discussion that affects many, many countries. And I’m talking about arms control. I’m talking about solidifying the democracies in Eastern Europe. I’m talking about a lot of matters where U.S.-Soviet relations affect a lot of other countries.”

However, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said later that Bush did not intend to signal that the developments in Lithuania could have an impact on U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations.

Fitzwater also said that Bush, in discussing communications with Moscow, was referring to, among other things, a telephone conversation Wednesday between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze.

Bush had invited Mitterrand to Key Largo to review the broad scope of change in Eastern Europe, the ever-increasing prospects for German unification and the proper role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as the Washington summit with Gorbachev, set to begin May 30, draws near.

However, the meeting was given heightened urgency by the latest Soviet response to the Lithuanian independence declaration of March 11. And, while U.S. officials said there is no concerted U.S. effort to organize a coordinated Western response, there have been such attempts elsewhere. On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas called for a coordinated initiative by the Common Market to focus on Moscow, but also to “impress on Lithuania the fact that dialogue has become more and more necessary.”

The call for such a response followed the disclosure Wednesday that the flow of Soviet petroleum, on which Lithuania depends, was cut off. On Thursday, Soviet officials said natural gas supplies were being severely curtailed and that further sanctions might be applied.

Mitterrand spent approximately 8 1/2 hours here.

Bush’s trip to Key Largo began a four-day journey that will take him to fund-raising events for Republicans in Birmingham, Ala., and Orlando, Fla., today, and on to Florida Bay on Saturday and Sunday in search of bonefish.