Speech #910153886

It seemed to me thenand it seems to me nowthat in our wellintentioned desire to break the diplomatic logjam and move the parties off dead center. we had become a little overzealous in attempting to find common ground with the Soviet Union. In fact. Mr. President. we seemed to have forgotten our own rhetoric about the need for the parties directly involved to reach agreements among themselves on boundary lines. navigation rights. refugees. and demilitarized zones. Or. was it just that. rhetoric? The Secretary seemed to have recognized this when. in his December 9 speech. he pointed out that "an agreement among other powers cannot be a substitute for agreement among the parties themselves." What Secretary Rogers did not recognize is that the search for socalled parallel views and their formulation publically can restrict the flexibility of the parties.