Gorbachev Vows to Keep U.S.S.R. From Splitting Apart

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, in an unscheduled television speech tonight, declared he intends to keep the Soviet Union together at all costs.

“All my convictions are based on preservation of the union,” Gorbachev said, sitting at a desk during the 15-minute TV address that came on at the beginning of the nightly evening newscast.

Gorbachev’s statements were his clearest yet that he will not let any of the 15 republics break from the union.

Many of those 15, in particular the three Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have initiated secessionist moves to free themselves from the Soviet Union.

The Baltics, where 21 people have died since Jan. 13 in incidents with Soviet troops, were independent between the two world wars.

“The Soviet Union is a superpower. . . . Huge efforts were made to make it so powerful, and we could lose it very quickly,” the president said.

Gorbachev commented on Lithuania and Estonia for ignoring his order for a nationwide referendum on preserving the union and said secession would spell doom for any republic.

“Separatism will doom people and destroy their lifestyles,” Gorbachev said.

He said this country of 290 million faces huge problems, but he blamed most on fractious republics who have begun dealing directly with each other and ignoring the Kremlin.

He accused some republics of trying to turn ethnic minorities on their territory into “second-class citizens.”