Kissinger Says He is Not Contemplating New Shuttle Round

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger told reporters after his first round of talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko here today that he was not contemplating a new round of “shuttle” diplomacy in the Middle East, “I do not intend going to the Middle East in the near future,” Kissinger said.

He told the newsmen that his discussions with Gromyko took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere but did not refer to any progress being made on the Middle East conflict. “The talks brought good results, especially concerning strategic arms limitations,” the Secretary said.

That subject and the projected European conference on security and cooperation were believed to have been the chief items discussed by the two diplomats at their first meeting yesterday. Diplomatic sources said a detailed discussion on the Middle East would occupy their meeting today.

Kissinger’s ruling out of a new diplomatic mission to the Middle East at this time seemed to reflect a growing mistrust by Israel of Kissinger’s tactics, diplomatic sources said here today. The Israelis were said to feel that he had spoken one way and acted another during his aborted efforts to achieve a second-stage Israeli-Egyptian agreement last March.

Accordingly, the sources said, American friends of Israel approached President Ford recently urging him to replace Kissinger as Secretary of State. The Americans, who were not identified, reportedly made it clear that Jerusalem might not welcomes the Secretary in the future as a mediator of the Middle East dispute. But Ford rejected their approach, the sources said. Ford, nevertheless, is taking the reins of Middle East diplomacy into his own hands. He will meet with President Anwar Sadat in Salzburg, Austria, June 1-2 and with Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin in Washington June 11-12.