Britain and the Soviet Union called today for an early settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict. A communique issued at the end of a three-day visit by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko said that the two sides “expressed their deep concern at the continuing dangerous situation in the Middle East and again underlined the necessity for the early achievement of a just and lasting political settlement in this area.”
The Middle East had been one of two subjects discussed in depth at yesterday’s talks between Gromyko and James Callaghan, the British Foreign Secretary. More details of the visit were to be disclosed this afternoon in Parliament by Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Soviet sources have indicated that Gromyko tried to persuade Britain to join the Soviet Union and other countries in guaranteeing Middle East frontiers to bring about an Arab-Israeli settlement. However, although Britain does not rule out such proposals as a matter of principle, they have encountered two major obstacles–deepening British suspicion of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy objectives and an awareness of Britain’s own military and political decline.
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