Israel’s Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir disclosed here today that he has asked for a meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and that he does not rule out a positive response. Shamir and Gromyko are attending the 39th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Shamir made the disclosure at a press conference with Israeli reporters at Israel’s Mission to the UN. If the meeting transpires it will be the second between Shamir and Gromyko who met at the General Assembly three years ago and the first high level contact between Israeli and Soviet diplomats since then.
TALKS TO SPAIN’S F.M. ABOUT TIES WITH ISRAEL
This morning, Shamir met with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Fernando Moran. He said their conversation dealt with the Middle East situation, Europe and the European Economic Community (EEC). “We spoke about the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Spain,” Shamir said, adding that “There is no doubt that such relations will be established in the future, the question is only when.”
He said that Moran could not tell him just when diplomatic ties with Israel will be established. But, Shamir said, it is clear that they will be after Spain becomes a member of the EEC, possibly next year.
MEETING WITH OTHER FOREIGN MINISTERS
Shamir also met today with Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson of France. He said that Israel has “a special dialogue with France” and that bilateral talks between the two countries are progressing satisfactorily.
Another of Shamir’s meetings today was with the Foreign Minister of Liberia, Ernest Eastman. The Israeli Foreign Minister said, in reply to a question, that his stay in New York will include meetings with the Foreign Ministers of African nations that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel. He declined to specify which countries.
Shamir met yesterday with British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and invited him to visit Israel Howe accepted and a visit was scheduled for the end of next month.
Shamir will continue his meetings with various foreign ministers this afternoon. He is also scheduled to meet with President Raul Alfonsin of Argentina and with the West German Foreign Minister, HansDietrich Genscher.
Meanwhile, Israel’s new Ambassador to the UN, Binyamin Netanyahu, will present his credentials this afternoon to UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
