THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 5 DECEMBER 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977179
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 5, 1969

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007800050001-6
The President's Daily Brief
5 December 1969
26
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
5 December 1969
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Sino-Soviet border talks are stalled, but they
are not likely to come to a full stop in the near
future. (Page 1)
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vinogradov is having
difficulty understanding his Arab allies. (Page 2)
Moscow
(?age 6)
Some members of the Fatah General Command are plan-
ning to remove Yasir Arafat from his leadership role.
(Page 4)
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COMMUNIST CHINA - USSR
According to Western diplomatic sources in Pe-
king, the Chinese have insisted that the Soviets
agree on a mutual withdrawal of heavy military units
100 kilometers from tense border areas. The initial
Chinese negotiating package is also said to include
a proposal for a Sino-Soviet commission to oversee
such a withdrawal and the removal of all Soviet for-
ces from Mongolia.
Peking obviously realizes that Moscow has no
intention of diluting its military advantage by
taking such drastic steps. Although the Chinese
may be prepared to compromise, they probably intend
to press for some form of preliminary agreement on
a military stand-down and disengagement along the
frontier before the talks go any further.
The impasse has been accompanied by an
increase in the exchange of polemics.
In spite of the deadlock, Peking and Mos-
cow seem to have little to gain by break-
ing off the discussions. Both sides
probably are prepared for a protracted
stalemate.
1
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USSR - MIDDLE EAST
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vinogradov, who
is in charge of Near Eastern affairs, recently com-
plained that he
has the toughest job in the Foreign Ministry. He
said he finds the job particularly difficult because
he has no experience in the area and it is hard for
him to understand the Arab mentality. Vinogradov
frankly admitted that Nasir had miscalculated in
provoking war in 1967, and added wryly that "blunder"
was a more apt description. Vinogradov insisted, how-
ever, that Israel stop demanding direct negotiations,
which he said the Arabs "will not and cannot" accept.
Vinogradov's candid remarks have the ring
of sincerity. His view that the Arabs
will not negotiate directly with Tel Aviv
is probably accurate. Dealing with the
Arabs is often a trying experience for
the Russians, and Vinogradov probably is
not looking forward to the next round of
bilateral consultations which may begin
today. On 3 December an Egyptian foreign
ministry official said he expected to be
going to Moscow on 5 December as part of
a UAR delegation.
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USSR
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ARAB STATES
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NOTE
South Vietnam: An intercepted enemy message
has disclosed the text of what appears to be
a forthcoming Communist announcement calling for
two three-day cease-fires to mark both Christmas
and New Years. The message indicated the neces-
sary decisions on this matter had been taken, but
it did not specify the timing of the announcement.
Unlike many previous years the South Vietnamese
Government has publicized its cease-fire plans
first. Yesterday Saigon announced that its for-
ces would observe a 24-hour truce on both holi-
days.
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Top Secret
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