President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's spokesman Tuesday denied speculation his boss plans to resign because of the formation of a Slavic commonwealth that effectively usurps his powers.
"Today he didn't think about it. As far as yesterday is concerned, you had better ask him," spokesman Andrei Grachev told a news conference.Grachev, speaking in English, was commenting on a remark by a Gorbachev aide that the Soviet leader might step down in the near future because of the commonwealth just declared by Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia.
"The president's position is that, at present, and as far as he feels he has the possibility to exercise the substantial political influence on the development of the process in this country, on the possibility to secure its stability and its peaceful and lawful transition into another and different quality, he's going to secure for that all of his efforts so far as that is in his power," Grachev said.
Earlier, Georgy Shakhnazarov, one of Gorbachev's senior political advisers, said the situation in the Soviet Union "is developing in a such way that it probably won't be necessary to wait long for (Gorbachev's resignation)."
On Monday, Gorbachev appeared to be holding firm, disputing the claim by Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia that they could alone create a new commonwealth of independent states.
The three Slavic republics were the original signers of the 1922 treaty that formed the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev is locked in a bitter struggle with Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin over who has the right and power to decide the fate of the rapidly crumbling Soviet Union.
Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia declared Sunday that the Soviet Union was dead politically and announced formation of a powerful new "commonwealth of independent states." They invited other Soviet republics to join them, and at least one, Armenia, indicated it might.
The Slavic pact makes no mention of a future role for Gorbachev, and rumors of his resignation have swept the Soviet capital ever since. Yeltsin and his top officials have indicated Gorbachev could still have a job, although they acknowledge they are not speaking on behalf of the commonwealth.
"I personally think that President Gorbachev, having considerable political experience and being a person who was irreplaceable at a certain stage ofour reforms, can be a constructive participant," Russian State Secretary Gennady Burbulis told a news conference.
Burbulis, Yeltsin's top deputy, said the new agreement was not "an attempt to push Gorbachev out of political activity and reduce his potential as a practical politician."
Yeltsin on Monday held out the possibility of a role in the commonwealth for Gorbachev, who like other key political figures not at the meeting was caught by surprise by the announcement. He was briefed only at a Kremlin meeting Monday.
The Russian leader canceled all scheduled appointments Tuesday to work on details of the Slavic pact at his country home, or dacha, Tass reported. He was to meet Wednesday with top military officials.
Burbulis skirted the question of whether Gorbachev is still commander-in-chief of the Soviet armed forces.
"I think we will resolve that issue in the next few days," he said.
According to the Interfax report, Shakhnazarov confirmed that Gorbachev still controls the button over the country's vast nuclear arsenal.
He was quoted as saying Gorbachev "can be deprived" of this authority only by the Congress of Peoples' Deputies.
However, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk said that under the new commonwealth, he, Yeltsin and Byelorussian leader Stanislav Shushkevich would have joint control over the weapons. Along with Kazakhstan, they are the republics where the Soviet Union's 27,000 nuclear weapons are known to be stationed.
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, clearly miffed by the Slavic move, on Monday urged Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine to join him in a special accord on keeping centralized control over the weapons until they are safely dismantled.
Gorbachev has been fighting hard to form a new, loose confederation of sovereign republics. In a statement read on the main television news Monday, he urged the convening of the Congress of People's Deputies, the Soviet parliament, and suggested holding a nationwide referendum to decide the fate of the country.
The Soviet leader said each republic has the right to secede from the union, but that "the fate of the multinational state can't be decided by the will of the leaders of three republics."
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told a news conference Tuesday the new commonwealth was "quite possibly the final chance to avoid a repetition of Yugoslavia on this land."