Mixed reactions to Gorbachev's remarks:
Shamir: Nothing new; Peres: Welcomes them
Information received by the Foreign Ministry: The US offered the USSR the status of co-chair at the international conference—and Gorbachev softened his positions ● Soviet leader: “We will cooperate with the Americans” ● “Israel's security must be guaranteed; we will consider relations with it after the conference opens”
Diplomatic activity in the region resumes: Shultz arrives in Egypt tomorrow, and in Israel on Sunday □ Shamir leaves for the US: interested in meeting Shevardnadze
The concluding speeches of the Moscow summit addressed the possibility of cooperation between the USSR and the US in finding a solution in the Middle East.
The statements by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, following yesterday's talks, are considered by commentators to represent some change in the Soviet position toward the conflict in our region: “When the international conference opens—and on the explicit condition that it not serve merely as a framework for separate, bilateral or trilateral negotiations or something similar—then, once it opens, we will be ready to address the question of diplomatic relati-
Television · 2008
Gideon Kouts’s special report from Damascus for the Mabat news program
Journalist Gideon Kouts reports to Channel 1’s Mabat program from Paris after returning from Damascus, where he was part of the press delegation accompanying French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Kouts describes being received as an Israeli journalist, the appearance of the city, the heavy security at Assad’s presidential palace, and the four-way summit held there.
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