Secretary of State William P. Rogers and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin met for an hour here yesterday. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joseph J. Sisco. The State Department gave no details but yesterday’s meeting and that between Mr. Sisco and Ambassador Dobrynin on June 12, were believed to be part of the ground work for a new U.S. diplomatic initiative toward a Mideast settlement, informed sources said today. Secretary Rogers will hold a press conference this week at which he is expected to announce the Nixon administration’s decision on the sale of more jets to Israel. Circles here believe that Israel will get some if not all of the 125 Phantoms and Skyhawks it has requested but that the deal will be conditioned by new peace proposals from Washington intended to mollify the Arabs. The new American initiative is believed directed primarily at President Gamal Abdel Nasser, of Egypt. The unusual week-end meeting between Rogers and Dobrynin is believed to have been concerned with the U.S. decision on the jets and the new proposals to Egypt. The soviet envoy is expected to confer with Mr. Sisco again later this week. State Department officials refused to say why Mr. Rogers saw Mr. Dobrynin yesterday. Carl Bartch, State Department spokesman, would say only that the subject discussed was the Middle East. U.S. officials said the meeting was held at U.S. initiative. Mr. Bartch declined to say whether the U.S. survey of the current arms balance in the Middle East has been completed. The administration’s decision on the sale of jets to Israel is contingent on the results of this study.
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.
