Vance-gromyko Meeting Seen As U.S. Effort to Keep Mideast Momentum Alive

The meeting between Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in Vienna next week is seen here as the start of the next series of meetings the United States to maintain the diplomatic momentum in the Middle East. The meeting is considered more important by the Administration than Vance’s presence in Washington when virtually every Latin American chief of state will be here to discuss the U.S.-Panama treaty on the Panama Canal.

Although the treaty is of momentous importance to both the U.S. and Panama and the visit of the Latin American leaders indicates the scope of its importance to them, Vance will not be present because of his discussions with Gromyko on the Middle East and the Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement (SALT), whose time limit is expiring.

Vance will leave here Sept. 5 for Vienna where he will meet with Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, a strong advocate of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s participation in negotiations for a settlement and for the creation of a Palestinian state. The Secretary will then confer with Gromyko for the next three days before returning to Washington.

Following his meeting with Gromyko, Vance is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia when they come to New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. President Carter is also scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers in Washington.