Shevardnadze May Get New Soviet Position

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with Eduard A. Shevardnadze today, one day after the foreign minister’s stunning resignation, and a presidential aide indicated Shevardnadze might retain a government post.

The two Soviet officials discussed the Persian Gulf crisis and arms control treaties, several government spokesmen said.

When pressed, presidential spokesman Vitaly Ignatenko indicated Shevardnadze might keep some post in government.

“You don’t resign and shut the door of the Cabinet behind you in one minute,” Ignatenko said. Gorbachev will study foreign reaction to the resignation before deciding on a replacement, Ignatenko said.

It was not known whether Shevardnadze would take part in a Moscow arms control summit Feb. 11-13 between Gorbachev and President Bush.

Shevardnadze told Parliament on Thursday that he did not want any part of a “dictatorship” being created under pressure of hard-liners.

His resignation dominated discussion in the Congress of People’s Deputies this morning, and a Ukrainian lawmaker later said a right-wing coup was going on under the Parliament’s nose.

Vladimir Chernyak, a deputy elected from Kiev, cited the resignation of Shevardnadze and the replacement of Interior Minister Vadim Bakatin last month.

“A right-wing reactionary coup is taking place in the country,” Chernyak said.

“Reactionaries, centralists and imperialists have united and are on the attack. At the head of the coup stands Gorbachev. It’s possible he himself doesn’t know it. By demanding for himself more and more powers, he is creating the legal basis for a dictatorship--maybe not for himself personally.”

Gorbachev, who had returned to the Palace of Congresses after meeting with Shevardnadze, sat forward in his chair and listened to the speech intently with a look of displeasure on his face. He said nothing.