Secretary of State William P. Rogers told a press conference here today that bilateral talks between the United States and the Soviet Union on the Arab-Israel deadlock had been “somewhat encouraging.” He indicated that the United States had made progress in seeking to persuade the Soviets to accept a “package” settlement instead of the phased withdrawal sought by Russia.
Reporting on the lengthy series of talks between Joseph Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, Mr. Rogers said, on the second anniversary of the start of the 1967 Six-Day War, that “one of the encouraging aspects is a general agreement that the final arrangement has to be a package, a total agreement.” He did not mention the initial Soviet pressures for a “phased settlement” as a precondition for implementation of other steps under the United Nations Security Council resolution on the Mideast of Nov. 22, 1967.
State Department sources said the United States had rejected the Soviet concept of a token withdrawal from the occupied areas by Israel, to be followed by possible Arab peace moves. The package which Mr. Rogers feels the Soviets appear to be accepting would, according to these sources, provide that all recommendations of the Security Council resolution would be implemented simultaneously.
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