Documents / FOIA release
The CIA's Directorate of Intelligence issued this Weekly Summary, No. 0369/70, on 8 May 1970. It covers events through noon on 7 May. The Far East section deals with the allied operations into Cambodia, Hanoi's cautious response and the government in exile Sihanouk formed in Peking. Other items cover Soviet military aid, the Sino-Soviet talks, Jordan, Dahomey, Guatemala and Brazil, and a special report looks at Cuban support for subversion in Latin America. Many pages are withheld, and the summary contains no UFO material.
Approved for Release: 2023/03/28 C03154550 TECEIL USSR REMAINS NONCOMMITTAL 0N INDOCHINA Authoritative Soviet state- ments early this week made clear Moscow's concern over the trend of events in Indochina. On 4 May, the Soviets took the unusual step of calling a press conference to dramatize their opposition to President Nixon's announcement of 30 April. Premier Kosygin personally read the text of a government statement denouncing US air raids on North Vietnam and "interven- tion" in Cambodia. The statement contained Moscow's strongest per- sonal attack on the President to date. The Soviet Premier took pains to stress that US activity in Indochina is contributing to a worsening in US—Soviet relations, but he did not go beyond previous pledges of support for Hanoi. Kosygin refused to be drawn out on the question of the legit- imacy of the present government in Phnom Penh. Now that Sihanouk has formed his "government—in— exile" and Hanoi and Peking have recognized it, however, Moscow may soon feel compelled to follow suit. Kosygin also spoke nega- tively on immediate prospects for a diplomatic solution in Indo- china, saying that "this is not the time for meetings, but for actions." He also promised that Moscow's "comprehensive aid" to Vietnam would be reviewed in the light of the current situation. The press conference and the fact that the Soviet Premier per- sonally delivered the attack on the President's policies were undoubtedly meant to underline the seriousness with which current US actions are viewed. There is little indication, however, that Moscow feels a need at present to commit itself to any dramatically new course of action. Moscow's attitude seems guided by the notion that only China or the US can hope to profit from a widening of hostilities in Indo- china. The Soviets may now be counseling Hanoi to avoid prema- ture overreaction to Washington's latest moves, but the USSR will not fall far out of step with North Vietnam's ultimate reaction. The Soviets seem also to be re- surrecting various proposals for united Communist action in aiding Vietnam. There have been a few re- cent propaganda broadcasts which suggest that the Soviets have re- vived this line. These proposals, like those following the intensi- fication of the conflict in 1965, have probably been raised primarily for the purpose of blackening China. The broadcasts themselves are cast in such a way as to be- tray Moscow's probable view that Peking is likely to be no more receptive than it was in 1965. \ \ (b 3 ‘sac-R~EI|; Page 9 WEEKLY SUMMARY 8 May 70 Approved for Release: 2023/03/28 C03154550
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 78 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.