I HAVE worked many hours with the Secretary of State analyzing and assessing the situation in the Middle East, and I have now directed him to return to that region in an effort to bring the discussions to a successful conclusion.
I am hopeful that the parties will successfully conclude an interim agreement which not only would be in the best interest of the parties involved but also in the best interest of the entire Middle East region and, indeed, of the whole world.
I am sure all Americans join me in wishing the Secretary of State success on this critically important mission.
Note: Secretary Kissinger left Washington, D.C., August 20, 1975, for discussions in Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
The statement was released at Vail, Colo.
Gerald R. Ford, Statement Announcing a Trip by Secretary of State Kissinger to the Middle East Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256833