President Georges Pompidou last night called for the renewal of the Big Four talks on the Middle East and said that their aim should be a “global” and final arrangement for the Middle East. While proposing a toast at the end of the state dinner for Soviet Communist Party Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev, Pompidou said that both France and Russia would rejoice if current American diplomatic efforts would succeed in achieving an interim solution in the Mideast.
Such talks, Pompidou indicated, should be based on the Security Council Resolution 242. He made it clear that any final agreement would need Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories. “Permitting the Middle East conflict to drag on,” Pompidou warned “could eventually endanger world peace.”
The French President had earlier conferred for one and a half hours with Brezhnev at the Elysee Palace. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that both statesmen confined themselves at this first talk – out of four due to take place during Brezhnev’s stay – to a general review of the international situation. As Pompidou’s toast, which actually served as a review of foreign affairs, took place after this meeting, observers here believe that it confirmed points of Franco-Soviet agreement.
Soviet circles pragmatically explain that though American efforts cannot bring about a solution to the conflict, they can at least help preserve the current cease-fire. These Soviet circles here seem also to harbor the secret hope that, in the process, America will still further strain its relation with both Egypt and Israel.
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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.
