Page:Ford, Kissinger, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Foreign Secretary James Callaghan - May 30, 1975(Gerald Ford Library)(1553097).pdf/6

 I heard this whole venture cost the Turks $1-1/2 billion. Can Uncle Sam do anything to make it interesting to the Turks?

After a settlement.

It is clear that Ecevit just wants to oppose. Demirel is a lot more impressive than I had thought.

We should coordinate with each other. We are seeing the Turks at 2:30 and the Greeks at 3:00.

Fine. I am seeing the Greeks over lunch. We will get word to you before your meeting. You should tell the Turks that they should move now.

How about the Middle East now?

I am looking forward to meeting with Sadat. We are having a thorough assessment and have seen and will see a lot of people. I would tilt toward an overall approach, covering the total area not just a part of it. We will get some criticism from the Jewish community and others. We have had an excruciating experience with the failure of Henry's efforts on his trip. At the moment, I am tilting to Option II. After the meetings with Sadat and Rabin, we will state in some way what is the best answer. Maybe it would be in a speech or a message to Congress. For now, we are taking criticism for holding everyone at arms length. But we are not being vindictive. We are trying to keep everyone calm.

They are staying quiet partly because everyone is trying to see how the reassessment comes out.

What about the Soviets?

Gromyko made his standard pitch on Geneva. I told him it was easy to start a conference but tough to finish it. He made a pitch on the PLO and suggested that we issue a formal invitation right then and there. I turned this down and told him he could now instruct his ambassadors to go in and tell the Arabs that we rejected the proposal. I told him that we are not yet ready to talk substance and should meet again in July. He is not rushing. He said August is out for Geneva. So maybe it will be September.