SOVA ANALYSIS OF SOVIET-ETHIOPIAN JOINT COMMUNIQUE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87B00342R000601350002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 23
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: November 13, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/17: CIA-RDP87B00342R000601350002-1
Tony, Williams
13 November 1985
NOTE FOR: DCI
SUBJECT: NSC Meeting
Attached is some additional material
prepared by SOVA for your NSC meeting
today.
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fill
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/17: CIA-RDP87B00342R000601350002-1
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/17: CIA-R
-MEMORANDUM FOR:
Attached is a quick and dirty update on the Soviet
handling of the President's regional initiative.
has probably alerted you. We thought it might
be of interest given this afternoon's meeting. The
cable that the embassy in Moscow filed on the same
communique was a bit more strident than this piece--
we think.they may have gone a bit overboard and over
interpreted the communique's language. In any case,
the Soviets did implicitly relect Rea~ganls proposals.
This piece was done by in my shop.
If there are any questions, contact him or me on
SOVA/TWA/RP
PS: We are attaching the state cable(annotated) &
a copy of the communique.
Date 13 Nov. 1985
FORM
5 75 IQI EU DITIONSIOUS
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/17: CIA-RDP87B00342R000601350002-1
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/17: CIA-RDP87B00342R000601350002-1
L, rir
SOVA Analysis of Soviet-Ethiopian Joint Communique
A joint Soviet-Ethiopian communique at the conclusion of Chairman
Mengistu's week-long visit to the USSR reaffirmed their close bilateral
relations and went on to claim that the US was responsible for regional
tensions, implicitly dismissing the US regional initiative at the UN.
-- The communique expressed both sides' satisfaction with "the steady
development and deepening" of bilateral ties, and called for further
improvement in economic and cultural relations. It also highlighted
Soviet approval of the activities of the Worker's Party of Ethiopia.
-- Moscow and Addis Ababa affirmed their "complete identity of views" on
international issues, expressing support for Soviet positions on arms
negotiations, Southern Africa, the declaration of a nuclear-free zone in
Africa, and international conferences on the Middle East and the Indian
Ocean.
The Soviets used the Mengistu visit communique for several purposes:
-- They reaffirmed the close ties between Moscow and Addis Ababa, placing
Mengistu's regime -- one of the five Soviet client states explicitly
criticized by President Reagan in his UN address -- at the top of the
list of