Gorbachev Addresses Uralmash Workers

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

speak, and since then Lithuania has become part of the Soviet Union. Today the people of Kaliningrad are putting forward a proposal to join Klaipeda and the whole coast to Kaliningrad. Russia is also putting the question -- the Russians. Russia expanded towards the seas for hundreds of years. It should have ports, and it is putting forward these proposals; it is calling on the center to resolve these questions. Finally, how are you going to pay for oil, for everything, for other things -- with hard currency? We'll discuss this.

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[Excerpts] [Gorbachev continues] We will settle all this. I beg of you, we'll settle these divorce proceedings. This initially requires a referendum to see what people want. I think the Lithuanians too are a very reasonable people, very cultured, educated, and capable of reflection. True, they are in the grip of euphoria, and now the Sajudis is exploiting the people's craving for an independent Lithuanian state, so to speak. But we say that state independence can also be settled in the framework of a new federation. So we have something to offer. Let the people reflect: either this way or another. But this question must be settled normally in constitutional forms. We will not withdraw from the mandate of the third Congress of People's Deputies. I think sober voices are on the increase in Lithuania, understanding voices.

I am conveying, at the wish of many people, the desire to take part in such meetings with you. Azalmal. Well, I am taking note of that. Tomorrow, comrades, there is a proposal to expand the hall, to change it for another one where there will be more people. But overall I would say plainly that in the factories I would like to have meetings just like this one in a hall like this. I know what 2,000 is and what 5,000 is. I have conducted three Congresses of People's Deputies; I conducted the 5,000-strong 19th conference. So, comrades, you can have meetings, but conversations like the one you and I are having today, delving into the essence of issues, is difficult in such halls. Here, I can see all of you, and you can see me. That is very important for this process, so to speak, to take place. Here we have no doubt come to the stage when there is more business, more depth, and not just a proclamation of slogans to one another. We have already had our meetings. Now for business. Even for the most inveterate enthusiasts of meetings who get into the soviets the time is ripe for business, and it is business which will be the test of these lovers of meetings. They have become agitated. [applause] The question is being raised: Why is a ship canal not built in the narrow part of Sakhalin Island for the passage of our ships to Sovetskaya Gavan. Well, I take note of it. I cannot say anything. [laughter] Incidentally, there was also the question: Will we give back the islands or not? We don't have an inch of superfluous land, but we don't want somebody else's either. [applause] The question is clear. This, comrades, is excluded, and we will stand on the positions of Helsinki and the recognition of post-war realities, including the inviolability of borders. Here we have the question will we give the Kurile Islands back to Japan. I've answered.

True, there is one other very serious question: Does the government occupy itself with such phenomena as unidentified flying objects? [laughter] Well, I think that this isn't a joke. Probably there are some kind of occurrences in nature, and in that sense the comrade wants an explanation. In general certain scientific collectives are oriented, and they must know