Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance said that "The parties will determine whether there will be a Palestinian state" in the Middle East, that the situation there has "improved from what it was nine months or a year ago," but that the favorable conditions may be destroyed if no progress is made toward peace this year.
Vance expressed those views Thursday in a special interview with the Associated Press and United Press International. The Secretary will begin a six-nation tour of the Middle East Feb. 15. He also told the wire services that he has severed the "linkage" between human rights issues and other matters between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
At a press briefing later, State Department spokesman Frederick Z. Brown was asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency if Vance’s remarks meant that the Administration opposes such laws as the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the U.S. Trade Act and the Stevenson Export-Import Bank legislation which link Soviet emigration and human rights practices with U.S. trade and economic benefits.
Brown said Vance had thought about it and indicated that the Secretary will address that matter at an appropriate time with the Soviet Union. Vance is going to Moscow to discuss bilateral issues late in March. Brown said the State Department would respond to the JTA’s question at a later date.
MIDEAST SITUATION HAS IMPROVED
Vance was questioned closely on Mideast issues by the wire service reporters. He was asked, "Must there be a Palestinian state for there to be peace in the Middle East?" He replied, "That is up to the parties to decide" but he did not identify the "parties." He added, "I think it is necessary if one is going to achieve a settlement to recognize the legitimate requirements of the Palestinian people and I have said this many times before."
Asked if those requirements included statehood, Vance said "That is up to them to decide how that might be done." Asked if "them" referred to the Palestinians or the parties to the conflict, Vance replied, "the parties."
He said that "despite difficulties which exist" the Middle East situation has "improved from what it was nine months or a year ago." But he added that if progress is not made in 1977, "other factors may arise which may destroy the more favorable conditions which currently exist." Vance’s remarks in that connection differed from the more blunt prognostication by UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim who said last week that a Middle East war would erupt in two years if progress toward a settlement is not made this year.
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