Troops in Lithuania ‘Concern’ Bush : But Soviets Assure U.S. No Force Will be Used in the Baltics

WASHINGTON — The White House today voiced concern about Soviet troop movements on the border of Lithuania, saying that “intimidation and increasing tension” would complicate matters between the Kremlin and the breakaway republic.

“We just think there are certain indications here that we have to be concerned with,” said White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater.

Nevertheless, Fitzwater said the United States has been assured by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and other leaders that Moscow will not use force in Lithuania. “We believe those are the operating policies and feelings of the Soviet Union.”

In Namibia, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said today that Moscow “will not use force in the Baltic Republics. This is what I’ve been saying all the time.”

Lithuania’s Parliament voted on March 11 to secede from the Soviet Union and restore the independence it enjoyed before being forcibly annexed in 1940. Four days after the vote to secede, the Soviet Parliament declared the decree invalid but also did not specify measures Moscow might take to prevent Lithuania’s succession.

The White House statement reflected a deepening sense of concern amid reports of Soviet troop movements over the last 24 hours. According to some accounts, the troop movements have been associated with protecting government facilities such as power plants and other utilities.

Fitzwater issued the statement after Bush told reporters he hopes Lithuania will experience peaceful change and self-determination.

Bush was asked by reporters at the outset of a meeting with congressional leaders if he is concerned that Gorbachev might order a military crackdown on the breakaway republic.

“I’m glad that they’re still talking peaceful change. That’s essential,” Bush said. “That’s what everybody wants to see is peaceful evolution in Lithuania.”

Fitzwater, reading from a prepared statement, said the United States “has consistently supported the Baltic peoples’ right to peaceful self-determination.” Moreover, he said the Lithuanian government has expressed a willingness to negotiate with Moscow over its economic interests in the Baltic state.

“We also note repeated Soviet statements that negotiations, not force, are the proper course in this situation,” Fitzwater said.

Meanwhile, Lithuania’s president denied Kremlin accusations that his Baltic republic plans to seize state enterprises and sell them to private owners.

Vytautas Landsbergis, speaking before the republic’s Parliament in Vilnius on Monday, said Moscow’s statements were based on mistaken information, according to television editor Eduardas Potashinskas, who monitored the session.

“It is not true that we are going to pass state-owned enterprises to private owners,” Landsbergis was quoted as saying.