Bush, Soviet Minister to Meet on Summit

Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander A. Bessmertnykh will meet with President Bush this weekend as the Administration nears a decision on whether to postpone next month’s summit meeting in Moscow, U.S. officials said today.

Bush has “made it clear he has really, really told Gorbachev in no uncertain terms” of his displeasure about the military crackdown against the breakaway Baltic republics, House Republican leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois said today as GOP leaders left the White House.

Michel said Bush indicated “he has to look at . . . the bigger picture. He said we’re involved in a very delicate relationship here.”

Sources said that besides meeting with Bush, the new Soviet foreign minister will discuss with Secretary of State James A. Baker III a broad agenda that includes the Soviet crackdown in the Baltics and whether a treaty to curb long-range nuclear missiles can be concluded in time for the summit, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 11-13.

The officials said a decision on Bush’s summit meeting with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was imminent. But presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said of Bush, “At the moment, he plans to go.”

Asked if the summit could be held in a neutral country rather than Moscow, Fitzwater said, “We want to talk to the ambassador about it, but I would lean away from that.”