Boris N. Yeltsin on Monday confronted Mikhail S. Gorbachev with the powerful new commonwealth of Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia and said there could be a role in the new political union for Gorbachev.
In addition, Kazakhstan President Nursul-tan Nazarbayev, who sat in on the Kremlin meeting, said he believed Gorbachev "still has not exhausted his possibilities" as a leader.Gorbachev and Nazarbayev were briefed by Yeltsin, the Russian president, for 80 minutes Monday about the "commonwealth of independent states" formed Sunday by the three Slavic republics.
Nazarbayev, whose vast resource-rich republic was left out of the commonwealth, ruled out any potential union by the five predominantly Muslim Soviet republics - Kazakhstan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan and Kirgizia - to counterbalance the Slavic commonwealth.
The declarations signed Sunday make no mention of any role for Gorbachev or any Soviet president. But both Nazarbayev and Gorbachev spokesman Andrei Grachev quoted Yeltsin as saying Monday that Gorba-chev might continue to play a leadership role.
Grachev told Soviet journalists that Yeltsin raised the possibility of "having the post of president" among the commonwealth's leaders.
Nazarbayev said the weekend accord took him by surprise. Gorbachev had no advance knowledge, either, and was not even informed until after Yeltsin telephoned President Bush.
The Kazakhstan president said he still supported Gorbachev's Union Treaty - or something similar - but emphasized: "I am a pragmatist and a realist, and I will look at the situation."
Nazarbayev said he, Gorbachev and Yeltsin agreed the Slavic pact would be sent to the Soviet parliament for consideration alongside Gorbachev's plan. It was not immediately clear what, if any, authority the parliament would have to prevent a commonwealth from coming into existence.
Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine comprise nearly three-fourths of the Soviet Union's population and possess most of its economic strength. They make up the country's traditional Slavic heartland.
The independent Interfax news agency said Yeltsin was authorized to speak at Monday's Kremlin meeting on behalf of the Ukrainian and Byelorussian leaders. Neither attended the session.
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Tadzhikistan briefly attended Monday's meeting, the Tass news agency said. But a full meeting of the State Council, the body temporarily running the Soviet government, was canceled.
In forming the commonwealth - named Sodruzhestvo in Russian - Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, Byelorussian leader Stanislav Shushkevich and Yeltsin said the Soviet Union had "ceased to exist."
But Gorbachev's deputy spokesman, Alexander Likhotan, told Israeli radio he did not think the agreement meant a certain end to Gorbachev's six years in power. "Yeltsin has come to Gorbachev, to the president now. That means he has to take into consideration the fact of the president being in power," Likhotan said.
The new political union is open to any of the nine remaining Soviet Union republics that wish to join. The mechanics and duties of the commonwealth have been described only vaguely, but the Slavic leaders' initial declarations said the states will take on some military responsibilities, will create a joint bank and official currency, and will guarantee freedom of religion.
The commonwealth also will work toward dismantling all nuclear weapons under international treaties, Tass and the declarations said.
Gorbachev's efforts to reconstitute the country as a federation of sovereign states were derailed by the failed hard-line Communist coup in August. Much of the Kremlin's authority has since been claimed by Russia; the three Baltic republics have seceded; and 10 of the remaining 12 republics have declared some form of independence.
At the same time, the already crippled economy approached collapse and ethnic violence flared.
The Slavic leaders announced creation of the commonwealth after a two-day meeting in the Byelorussian village of Viskuli. The meeting was organized after Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly Dec. 1 to break away from the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev insisted in a television interview Saturday that it would take more than a declaration to dismantle the Soviet Union.
"The union still exists," he said. "Your brothers might say it doesn't, or they might talk about the former union. No. It's not a structure, not writing or speech. It's reality. It's people. It's life. It's society. This is what the union is."
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(Chart)
Soviet republics form new alliance
The Soviet Union's three Slavic republics - Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine - formed a new alliance in an agreement taht appears to strip the central government of its remaining power.
Russia, Byerlorussia and Ukraine comprise nearly three-fourths of the Soviet Union's 290 million people and possess most of its economic strength, in addition to sharing an ethnic heritage as the country's traditional Slavic heart.
Ethnic omposition
Each of the constituent republics is named for the predominate ethnic group. Charts show the size of the majority (red), proportion of ethnic Russians (purple) and other significant minorities.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for chart