Boris N. Yeltsin, the new president of the Russian Federation and a leading critic of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, said Thursday he will try to make peace in his personal feud with the Soviet president. Yeltsin, a radical reformer, was quoted by the official Tass news agency as saying he would put aside personal differences with Gorbachev when the president returns from the Washington summit. Yeltsin was seeking to calm the fears of the deputies of the republic's Congress about his stormy relationship with Gorbachev, his former mentor. In his new position as president of Russia, the largest Soviet republic, Yeltsin has a formidable platform from which to challenge and criticize Gorbachev, who opposed his election. Deputies speaking Thursday at the Russian Congress ``expressed concern over the exchange of statements about each other'' by Yeltsin and Gorbachev, Tass reported. Yeltsin answered that after Gorbachev returns June 4 from the summit in Washington, ``I think we'll have an appropriate conversation, and we'll resolve most issues without damaging the sovereignty and aims of Russia,'' Tass said. At a news conference Wednesday, Yeltsin called for achieving Russian ``sovereignty'' within 100 days. The term is used here to mean not independence, but autonomy in most internal decisions. Yeltsin also urged the Kremlin to allow the other 14 republics to enjoy the same autonomy, making the country a federation of states that could overrule the central government on most matters. Although Yeltsin said he wanted a ``businesslike'' relationship with Gorbachev, he also made an oblique call Thursday for Gorbachev to give up one of his posts: either Soviet president or Communist Party general secretary. ``I am against combining any post in one person. And I am talking not just about the chairmanship of the party at the Russian level, at the regional level, or at the local level,'' he said. In Ottawa on Tuesday, Gorbachev said he was ``somewhat concerned'' about Yeltsin's victory and feared that if Yeltsin ``is playing a political game, then we may be in for a difficult time.'' There have been no reports that Gorbachev sent congratulations to Yeltsin on his election. Gorbachev brought Yeltsin to Moscow to head the city's Communist Party but fired him in 1987 after Yeltsin publicly criticized the pace of reform. Relations have been strained ever since. Yeltsin capped a remarkable political comeback by winning election Tuesday as Russian president. However, at Thursday's session of the Russian Congress, Deputy Ivan Galushko from the Jewish autonomous region in the Soviet Far East said Yeltsin was overstepping his authority with some of his statements the day before. He called on Yeltsin ``to refrain from hasty statements on questions that are within the competence of the Congress or Supreme Soviet.'' Tass said many deputies seconded Galushko's opinion. In his reply, Yeltsin acknowledged disagreements with Gorbachev but said he would put them aside. ``True, we have our differences,'' said Yeltsin. ``I renounce all these personal aspects fully and completely. I leave that behind.'' A deputy of the national Supreme Soviet legislature, Anatoly Denisov, said in an interview that the differences between Yeltsin and Gorbachev are so pronounced they portend ``very bad consequences'' and ``difficult conflicts'' for the nation. He said they could lead to the imposition of Soviet presidential rule nationwide.
Boris Yeltsin , the new president of the Russian Federation and a leading critic of Mikhail Gorbachev , said Thursday he will try to make peace in his personal feud with the Russian president. 100 days , Yeltsin called for achieving Russian "sovereignty" within 100 days , meaning with this term not independence but autonomy in most internal decisions. Yeltsin also urged the the Russian Federation to allow the other one republics the same autonomy, making the country a federation of states that could overrule the central government on most matters. Yeltsin was accused by a Soviet Congress deputy of overstepping his authority with some of his statements.