Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh will come to Israel late next week for a 24-hour visit, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday evening.
A spokesman said further details would be announced at a later date.
The visit will be the first ever by a high-ranking Soviet diplomat to Israel and may mark the resumption of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union, which Moscow broke during the Six-Day War of 1967.
While Israel has agreed in principle to a regional conference for Middle East peace under the joint auspices of the United States and the Soviet Union, it has insisted the Soviets must resume diplomatic ties with Israel before they can participate in the conference.
The announcement said that “as a result of consultations between Foreign Minister David Levy and the Soviets, it was established that Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh will visit Israel on May 10.”
The announcement triggered speculation that diplomatic relations would be re-established during or just prior to the visit.
The Soviet foreign minister first indicated he might visit Israel sometime this month after Secretary of State James Baker interrupted his diplomatic mission to the Middle East last week to meet with Bessmertnykh in the Caucasus town of Kislovodsk.
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