President Richard M. Nixon characterized his Administration’s Mideast policy today as an active one. The United States will take “initiatives” to promote peace and “will not wait for something else to happen,” he told his second White House press conference.
The President said his diplomatic approach will be five-fold: Support of UN envoy Dr. Gunnar V. Jarring’s peace mission, bi-lateral talks with the Big Four at the UN to be followed by full formal talks, meetings with the concerned Mideast parties, and advancement of other aid plans for the region. One such assistance program, he said, would be a plan formulated two years ago by Adm. Lewis L. Strauss and endorsed by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower that would bring atomic desalination to the area and, among other things, provide employment there.
Reiterating his belief that the Mideast “might explode into a major war” and needs “immediate attention,” Mr. Nixon stressed the multi-lateral nature of the “initiatives” and pledged that Washington will pursue every possible avenue that might promote peace.
Answering a question about a onetime connection that UN Ambassador Charles W. Yost had with convicted Soviet spy Alger Hiss, Mr. Nixon expressed confidence in his loyalty to the U.S. and praised his judgement and “valuable contributions” to the National Security Council on Mideast problems. Mr. Yost is a Mideast specialist.
Mr. Nixon said he hoped all governments would ratify the nuclear non-proliferation treaty–Israel has not–saying that the U.S. would not gain that objective by “public” and “high-handed methods” to obtain international approval for it. Foreign governments know what we think.” he said, adding that “in the end most of our West European friends will follow our lead.” Observers took his comments to include non-European nations as well.
Mr. Nixon asked the Senate yesterday to proceed promptly with the treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, saying rectification would “advance this Administration’s policy of negotiation rather than confrontation with the Soviet Union.” Some 80 nations, including the U.S., have signed it but this is merely a preliminary formality. Only nine have ratified it. Britain is the only major power to do so.
The U.S. proposed to France, Britain and the Soviet Union yesterday that preliminary meetings should be held at the UN to investigate whether there is sufficient agreement to justify formal talks. Replying to a French note of Jan. 16 calling for a Big Four meeting, Secretary of State William P. Rogers handed Ambassador Charles Lucet a letter to President Charles de Gaulle which said that bi-lateral talks should take place promptly. The U.S. takes the position that the talks must take place “within the framework of the Security Council” and must serve as an instrument of assisting Dr. Jarring.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
