There is a good likelihood that the Soviet bloc will not send munitions to the Arab states, if major progress is made on other issues at the Geneva meeting this month of the Big Four Foreign Ministers.
This opinion was expressed today in State Department circles. The Geneva agenda does not include any discussion of the Middle East arms situation, but it is assumed that the subject will be pursued privately by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles with Soviet Foreign Minister V, Molotov. Secretary Dulles is definitely expected to continue his pressure on the Soviet Union to call off the Communist arms deal with Egypt.
The general impression here is that the deal by Czechoslovakia to supply arms to Egypt and possibly also to other Arab countries may affect East-West relations in general and especially the forthcoming Geneva parley. American officials see in the Soviet bloc’s agreement to arm the Arabs a major test of Soviet intentions.
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