France desires a unified Western policy on munitions sales to Israel so that no one nation–like France–would be required to assume all the responsibility. This view was put forth by French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau in his talks with Secretary of State Dulles here, but Mr. Dulles made no comment and the matter was dropped.
Soviet activities in the Middle East loomed in the talks as more important than the Arab-Israel issue as such. The visit of Soviet Foreign Minister Dmitri Shepilov to Cairo was discussed at some length. The role of Egypt in North Africa and the Middle East was taken up but there were no firm conclusions.
M. Pineau indicated today that no agreement on the question of future arms shipments to the Middle East was reached by the United States and France. He said, after a two-and-a-half hour talk with Mr. Dulles that the question of arms flow to the Middle East is “very very complicated.” This is because each country has its own position on the problem.
M. Pineau emphasized his belief that the Security Council is “perfectly adopted to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict.” He said that both the United States and France regret the new Soviet attitude of “negativism” in dealing with the Arab-Israel issue.
An American French communique at the conclusion of the Dulles-Pineau talks said the two diplomats “exchanged views on the Middle East and reaffirmed their intention to continue to search within the framework of the United Nations for a peaceful solution of existing problems in that area and in particular to support the efforts of the Secretary General in connection with the Palestine question.”
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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.
