Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger today endorsed a Senate resolution which urged the re-establishment of the cease-fire lines held by the Arabs and Israelis prior to Saturday’s attack launched by Egypt and Syria. The Senate resolution was unanimously adopted by voice vote by the few Senators on hand when it was introduced by the leaders of the two major parties, Senators Mike Mansfield (D. Mont.) and Hugh Scott (R.Pa.).
The resolution, which was left on the desk for any Senator to add his name, deplored the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East and recommended that President Nixon and Kissinger “urge the participants to bring about a cease-fire and a return of the parties involved to lines and positions occupied by them prior to the outbreak of current hostilities.” The resolution also said that “The Senate expresses its hope for a more stable condition leading to the peace in that region.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. today rejected a charge that it is delaying a call for a cease-fire in the Middle East in order to allow Israel to regain territories seized by Egypt and Syria since the surprise attack Saturday morning. “It is unfair and unworthy of the spirit in which the United States has approached this entire situation.” State Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey declared. “We are not trying to find ways to prejudice the positions of those involved. We have not settled on a Security Council resolution and we have not introduced one.”
Earlier in the day the White House disclosed that Nixon and Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev exchanged cabled messages yesterday on the Middle East situation. Officials refused to discuss details but since U.S. diplomats were concentrating on obtaining support for the U.S. effort to bring about an end to the hostilities by action within the UN Security Council it appeared obvious the discussion centered on the Soviet view towards this purpose.
The disclosure was made by White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler after the President himself had told newsmen of the importance of obtaining strong support for the U.S. position in the United Nations. He said that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and other U.S. officials were in frequent touch with all the Security Council members and parties in the conflict and hoped the U.S. move towards termination of the fighting would be successful.
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