Ford-gromyko Talks Include Emigration, Mideast Peace

President Ford told Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, “I think we have a lot to talk about” when they met at the White House Friday shortly after Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.Wash.) left a meeting there with the President and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger.

Jackson told reporters that he was hopeful of an early decision on the issues which Kissinger said Thursday may be indicated within a week. The Senator said an agreement was close on the number of Jews and others who will be permitted to leave the Soviet Union but he observed that some issues remain to be solved. These include legislative safeguards and guarantees on any Soviet-American agreement on emigration. The Russians, Jackson said, have come a long way toward an agreement on easing their emigration practices.

Jackson also said that he hoped a conclusion would be reached over the weekend between the Administration and key Senators on the immigration issue. He said the Soviet Union had come around 180 degrees on the emigration question but said that events in Russia during the past week, including the use of a bulldozer to wipe out an art, exhibit near Moscow, indicated the need for close control by Congress on any emigration agreement.

Assistant Presidential press secretary John Hushen told reporters after the two-and-a-half hour Ford meeting with Gromyko, Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin and Kissinger, that during the talks Ford touched on his discussion with Congress on the trade bill, which includes the Jackson Amendment, but added that he could not talk about that matter.

When a reporter asked whether the trade bill approval was nearer as a result of the discussions, Hushen said the President was hopeful. Hushen also said that the President and Gromyko reviewed the Middle East situation and that they agreed on the importance of a continuing effort toward a lasting and equitable peace in the area.