President Mikhail S. Gorbachev urged lawmakers Tuesday to approve a radical plan to transform the structure of the Soviet Union, saying it was "the only possible decision."

Gorbachev also tried to blunt objections from hard-liners that the new government structures he had proposed represented "almost another coup."The Soviet president said he was acting democratically to save the country, but his opponents were portraying these actions as "an evil conspiracy against the people."

Meanwhile, in a move to placate critics in the Congress of People's Deputies, Gorbachev withdrew his proposal for a new, smaller legislature with 20 representatives from each republic.

He instead suggested reforming the Supreme Soviet, the 542-member standing legislature elected by the Congress, according to draft legislation circulated in the Congress Tuesday.

The speech came on the second day of a special session of the Congress that was called after last month's failed coup. Lawmakers are considering sweeping changes in the shape of the Soviet Union, including reforming it as a loose confederation of sovereign states.

"I hope the session will have enough wisdom to make the only possible decision in these circumstances," he said.

Gorbachev, who spoke after Russian President Boris Yeltsin harshly criticized him for failing to foresee the coup, said this was not the time for divisiveness.

"I think there should be some understanding of my position. We are all one, side by side. We should not spit on one another," Gorbachev told the Congress.

With two-thirds of the Soviet republics expressing determination to go their own way, many of them are worried about possible bullying by the sprawling, wealthy Russian Federation.

Yeltsin, in a 10-minute address to the lawmakers, pledged that the Russian republic would be an "equal among equals."

"The Russian state, which has chosen democracy and freedom, will never be an empire or big or little brother," he declared.

But later, in an interview with Cable News Network, Yeltsin suggested that in light of the Russian republic's size and power - and its role in crushing the coup - Russians should hold key posts of prime minister, defense minister, KGB chairman and interior minister.

In the interview, Yeltsin said that Gorbachev had no choice but to go along with the loss of central power in the wake of the coup.

"Now this is his last chance," he said. "If he continues together with the democratic movement and Russia and he recognizes the independence of all the other republics, yes, his political life will be extended," he said.

Meanwhile, there were growing indications Tuesday that the question of Baltic independence might not be decided immediately by the Congress. Gorbachev had said lawmakers would take up the matter, although independence for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia is regarded by many as a given. At the United Nations Tuesday, Western diplomats said Britain and France would present formal requests from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to become members of the world body.

As the republics move toward independence, some Western leaders have expressed concern about control over the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Yeltsin, in the CNN interview, offered assurances that Russia was moving to secure them.

He said that strategic nuclear weapons are being moved from the Ukraine to his republic and that Kazakstan is planning to do the same.

"We have set up a committee to control nuclear weapons so that they are not used either by hawks or ultraright- or ultraleft-wing forces or terrorists because this is very dangerous at the present time," he said.

"Apart from the central government, we want Russia to control nuclear weapons and to be responsible for nuclear weapons on the territory of Russia, and we want to be answerable to the whole international community so that we keep a finger on the button as well," he told CNN.

Despite his harsh remarks about Gorbachev, Yeltsin said his opinion of the Soviet president has changed radically since the coup. Gorbachev, he said, "found strength in himself to re-evaluate a lot of things."

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But he blamed Gorbachev for refusing to listen to reformers and allowing the coup plotters to hold high office in the government and Communist Party. The coup, he said, "was not accidental."

Gorbachev said he had learned a "hard lesson" from the takeover, but it was time to look ahead rather than behind.

The restructuring plan calls for establishing a new legislative body, state council and economic coordinating committee that would govern during an interim period as the Soviet Union moves toward a loose confederation.

Under the plan, the central government would be stripped of most functions beyond defense and foreign affairs. The plan also apparently would grant independence to the five republics that oppose remaining in the union - the three Baltic states, Moldavia and Georgia.

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