Lithuanians Cool to Suspension of Secession Move

The proposed suspension of Lithuania’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union is likely to meet strong opposition when it is put before the republic’s Parliament, key deputies warned Sunday.

Although recommended by the Baltic republic’s Cabinet as the only way to break the political stalemate and lift the economic blockade that followed the declaration, the suspension was sharply criticized at a lengthy Sunday meeting of the Lithuanian Parliament’s leadership in the capital of Vilnius.

“The declaration of independence is untouchable,” Kazimieras Moteika, a vice chairman of the Supreme Council, the republic’s Parliament, said after the three-hour meeting. “We are ready to compromise, but not on our independence. . . .

“Nobody will support such an appeal. The (independence declaration) is the edge we cannot trespass, even temporarily.”

Other political leaders also criticized the proposal, put forward by Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskiene, to declare a “temporary moratorium” on the March 11 declaration of independence for the duration of negotiations between Lithuania and Moscow on the republic’s secession from the Soviet Union.

“The situation in the republic is very unfavorable toward such a decision,” another deputy said. “The voters do not like such words as ‘canceling,’ ‘freezing’ or ‘suspending.’ When I met with my voters, they were telling me, ‘We can last easily for another year.’ ”

Approved at a Saturday meeting of the Lithuanian Cabinet, the proposed “moratorium” represents a retreat by the Baltic republic in order to satisfy conditions laid down by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev that the negotiations be conducted solely within the framework of the Soviet constitution and legislation.

“This suspension is out of the question,” Virgilius Cepaitis, general secretary of Sajudis, the pro-independence Lithuanian national movement, said. “How can we ‘freeze’ our independence?

“This will be a decision with a noose around the neck, made under pressure of blackmail and violence in the conditions of the economic blockade. It is ridiculous to speak about the good will of the Kremlin.”

Vytautas Landsbergis, the Lithuanian president, predicted a heated debate when the proposal comes before the Supreme Council on Tuesday, but he indicated that he will support the measure.

“People are very suspicious of Moscow,” Landsbergis said. “This will be a difficult debate. It is more likely that the Parliament will reject it.”

The Lithuanian president stopped short of endorsing the proposal himself, but he told Reuters news agency he believes that a compromise with the Soviet leadership is now possible. “I hope so,” he said, adding that his meeting with Gorbachev last week had been friendly.

“This is one of the possible formulas for discussion,” Landsbergis continued. “We will discuss this formula and others.”

His comments and those of other Lithuanian officials suggested that their strategy might be to undertake “talks about talks” so as to win further concessions without having to suspend the declaration formally and to blur virtually all distinctions between the various stages of negotiations so that discussions can move back and forth.

As explained in a government statement, the Cabinet is proposing “a temporary moratorium . . . during negotiations with the Soviet Union” of the declaration of independence, not just the resolutions and laws adopted after it.

“The people of Lithuania are waiting for new initiatives and practical steps from the Parliament and the government in the consolidation of our independence,” the statement continued. “In the opinion of the government, it is a favorable time for negotiations.”

But Algimantas Cekuolis, a member of the independent Lithuanian Communist Party’s Central Committee, said he too doubted that the Parliament would approve the proposal, probably due to suspicion of Moscow or perhaps in hopes of a better deal.

“Our relations with Moscow have always been bad,” Cekuolis said. “They have broken every agreement that they ever had with us. In the Kremlin, they say they are different now. But, I ask you, would you buy a used car from this government?”

Moteika, a lawyer, argued that the Lithuanian government’s recommendation to the Parliament has little legal basis.

“The government did not adopt any decision, nor is this a decree,” he said. “There, in fact, was no voting on this . . . proposal.”

Predicting a heated debate, Moteika added, “There is nothing final in this.”

Cekuolis said that Gorbachev has apparently softened his position on Lithuania recently because of other problems, including the country’s economic crisis and the election last month of the populist Boris N. Yeltsin as president of the country’s Russian Republic.

Western pressure is also having an impact, Cekuolis said. President Bush took up the Baltic crisis several times during Gorbachev’s visit to Washington, and other Western leaders have focused on it as well. The U.S. Congress, meanwhile, has said that it will not approve the new Soviet-American trade agreement until the economic blockade of Lithuania is lifted.

A compromise began to emerge last week when Gorbachev told the Supreme Soviet, the country’s legislature, that negotiations could begin if Lithuania simply suspended its independence declaration for the duration of talks.

Then meeting with Landsbergis and other Baltic leaders, Gorbachev assured them of the Kremlin’s willingness to negotiate terms for their secession but outlined his vision of a commonwealth of sovereign states developing from the present Soviet Union as an alternative to go-it-alone independence.

To demonstrate the Soviet government’s good will, Prime Minister Nikolai I. Ryzhkov ordered partial restoration of the natural gas supplied to Lithuania so that a key fertilizer plant could resume production, as well as shipment of some other raw materials needed by Lithuanian factories.

Explaining its recommendation, the government said in a formal statement that after the last round of meetings in Moscow, involving Gorbachev and Ryzhkov on the Soviet side and Landsbergis and Prunskiene on the Lithuanian side, “it became clear that the authorities of the Soviet Union are ready to go into compromise with the Lithuanian authorities and are actively preparing for negotiations.”

The Cabinet said its proposal was motivated by the need “to consolidate the Lithuanian state, to get international recognition and to normalize relations with the Soviet Union” and would not undercut “the unquestionable right” of Lithuanians to re-establish their independence.