The triumvirate that governs the Soviet Union will soon visit Syria, it was reported here from Moscow yesterday. According to the report. Communist Party Secretary Leonid 1. Brezhnev, President Nikolai I, Podgorny and Premier Alexei N. Kosygin accepted invitations from Syria’s visiting President, Noureddin al-Atassi. No firm dates were set. The announcement was not clear about whether the Kremlin leaders would visit Damascus separately or together.
The announcement coincided with the arrival in Moscow of Joseph J. Sisco, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, for what was described by the State Department as a “brief round” in the U.S.-Soviet dialogue on the Middle East. Mr. Sisco has been conducting talks in Washington for several months with Soviet Ambassador Anatomy F. Dobbin. While in Moscow, he is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Andrei A. Grommet but most of his conversations will be with Foreign Minister Andrei A. Grommet-but most of his conversations will be with Mr. Dobbin. who was called home for consultations several weeks ago. First Deputy Minister Vasily I. Kuznetsk and Vudimir Sermon, assistant foreign minister in charge of Middle East affairs. Mr. Sisco is accompanied on his trip by AL Atherton of the State Department’s Near East and South Asia section.
Mr. Sisco stopped in London and Paris en route to Moscow. On Friday he met with British Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart with whom he reportedly agreed that prospects for an Arab-Israeli settlement were remote at this time. He conferred briefly in Paris with French Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann.
Reports from Damascus today said the Syrian Cabinet met to review the results of President el-Atassis Moscow visit. According to informed sources, Mr. al-Assisi failed to obtain more arms from Russia but an agreement was concluded for Russian help in developing Syria’s nationalized oil industry. A delegation from the oil-producing Persian Gulf state of Kuwait is in Damascus, Kuwait was reported to be offering to help Syria finance arms purchases abroad.
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.
