Observers here were wondering what effect the Soviet-Syrian communique issued today after Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko’s second visit to Damascus would have on the scheduled disengagement talks in Washington. The communique–couched in unusually harsh terms and endorsing all means to achieve Syrian aims in the Arab-Israel conflict–did not mention the talks, due to begin with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger later this month.
But observers feel the tone and the timing of the communique reflect Soviet dissatisfaction with the ongoing success of U.S. efforts to bring peace to the Mideast in a lone effort. The USSR was known previously to hold that any future talks should be held in Geneva (where they too could bring their influence to bear).
Does the communique conceal a hardened Syrian line involving President Hafez Assad’s reneging on his pledge to Kissinger to send an envoy to Washington to talk disengagement? Observers here could give no decisive answer but advised rather to wait and see on both this question–and on the more urgent military situation on the cease-fire line which may also be influenced, one way or another, by Gromyko’s long talks with Assad.
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.
