No Sanctions Now: Bush : He Fears Soviets May Retaliate

President Bush said today that he will not impose sanctions on the Soviet Union in response to the Kremlin’s crackdown in Lithuania, saying such steps at this time could backfire.

“I’m concerned that we not inadvertently do something that compels the Soviet Union to take action that would set back the whole case of freedom around the world,” Bush said after a meeting with congressional leaders.

Bush later told a group of agricultural writers that while he was not ready to announce penalties at this time against the Soviet Union, “If there were anything done, it would . . . be on the economic side.”

Bush also said he would not consider imposing a grain embargo on the Soviet Union in response to its actions in Lithuania.

Administration officials said Bush, who appeared a day ago to be on the brink of imposing economic penalties, decided to wait after reports from Moscow that U.S. sanctions could wind up making the situation worse in Lithuania.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said that Bush decided to hold off on any sanctions at this time after consultations with leaders of “at least 20 countries.”

There was a “confluence of voices,” particularly from allies in Western Europe, against strong U.S. steps against Moscow, Fitzwater said.

He cited concerns of Soviet countermoves, not only against Lithuania and other Baltic states, but in Poland and other fragile new Eastern European democracies.

“I’m not going to give up trying to get the Soviet Union and the Lithuanians into a dialogue,” Bush said.

“I would encourage the Soviet Union and the Lithuanians to go forward right now with dialogue,” he said. “Let’s hope they can start talking. This results in a great deal of potential for the freedom that we seek for the Lithuanians.

“Therein lies the answer,” Bush said.

“I will let the American people know, and the Congress know, when I decide to take certain action. And the decision has not been made,” he added.

Administration officials had said earlier that Bush was near a decision on a package of economic penalties. But participants at today’s congressional meeting said the President voiced repeated concerns over Soviet retaliation against Lithuania should the United States step up its pressure on Moscow.

Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I) said Bush told congressional leaders that he was not prepared to announce sanctions at this time because “the action could precipitate an escalation. We don’t want to see that happen.”

Pell, speaking to reporters on the White House driveway after the hourlong session, said there emerged from the session “a general feeling of support for the President.”

Rep. Dante Fascell (D-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested one factor in Bush’s hesitancy to act could be that U.S. allies in Western Europe “are not willing to consider stiff economic sanctions.”

Fascell said he told Bush that a better response would be to postpone the May 30-June 3 superpower summit. “That would send a message all around the world,” Fascell said.