The United Nations Ambassadors of the Big Four–United States, Soviet Russia, Britain and France–held their 26th meeting on the Mideast here today. It took place at Soviet Mission headquarters. No headway was reported on agreement on guidelines for a Middle East peace settlement, the goal that the Four Powers have been striving to reach since their talks began last April. But today’s agenda reportedly contained items of more immediate consequence–the restoration of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Egypt and the possibility of a Big Power agreement to curb arms shipments to the Mideast.
The agenda items were prompted by a recent exchange of notes between Moscow and the three Western powers in which all reportedly agreed on the urgency of a settlement. President Richard M. Nixon, in reply to a letter from Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin, reportedly suggested discussion of an arms curb. The idea was supported in the reply sent to Moscow by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The three Western powers also called for joint Big Four action to restore the cease-fire. The Russians so far have shown no willingness to discuss such action. The prospects of a Big Power arms embargo were also considered dim. The Soviet Government newspaper Izvestia said in a front page editorial yesterday that of the Western power notes to Premier Kosygin, only the French reply was satisfactory. The paper accused the U.S. and Britain of delaying a Mideast settlement.
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