Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger declared today that there was little chance that he would engage in “shuttle diplomacy” in the near future. His statement came less than a day after observers here predicted that Kissinger would go to the Middle East to seek a disengagement agreement between Israel and Jordan.
Answering questions at an unexpected news conference devoted largely to the. Cyprus crisis, Kissinger said a foreign government must not expect that whenever there is a crisis he “must rush in” to help settle it. But he said if “an especially critical” situation arises he would engage “in a brief shuttle diplomacy” but not in “extended diplomacy.”
Kissinger was asked to explain the statement in the joint communique issued by President Ford and King Hussein of Jordan at the end of Hussein’s visit to Washington yesterday in which the two countries said that Israeli-Jordanian disengagement talks on the West Bank of the Jordan River should be held at an early date.
This was a major element of the communique and indicated that Jordan’s request for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would be the next element in the negotiations for a Middle East peace. “There are many versions of disengagement schemes,” between Israel and Jordan. Kissinger explained, but the U.S. “did not imply any particular scheme” in the communique.
MORE TALKS BEFORE PEACE SETTLEMENT
Kissinger again reiterated that the next American move in the search for a Mideast peace settlement will not be decided until completion of the current round of discussions between the U.S. and the countries involved. He pointed out that he is scheduled to meet with the Syrian Foreign Minister in Washington this week and the Sandi Arabian Foreign Minister next week.
He said that Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin has been invited to come to Washington for talks with Ford during the first-half of Sept. Hussein and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy were here last week and Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon was in Washington two weeks ago,
Kissinger was asked whether, in view of the Greek-Turkish dispute over Cyprus, the U.S. would reassess its capability to limit wars between small states. This implied the question of how would the U.S. react to a new Israeli-Arab conflict. Kissinger replied that the U.S. “has never claimed that it could stop local wars wherever they occur.” The United States cannot be asked to restore and balance of power by its own military force, he asserted. But he cautioned that it is “not fair to generalize from this even” in Cyprus to a global basis.
During the press conference Kissinger also said that he hopes further and good progress will be made this week in the discussions for solution of the Soviet emigration Issue. Kissinger’s comment agreed with the statement three Senators made last Thursday that “good progress” has been made in negotiations.
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