Statement by the President on the Preservation of Peace in Cyprus.

TODAY we gratefully mark an occasion when the exercise of good will and the skill of diplomacy have been productive.

In recent weeks, the danger of a terrible human tragedy has hung over the eastern Mediterranean. Now the Governments of Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus have in cooperation with the United Nations taken necessary steps to remove this threat.

In this undertaking, so momentous for the preservation of peace, they have had the assistance of Mr. Cyrus Vance, whom I welcome here today, and Mr. Manlio Brosio, Secretary General of NATO, and Mr. Jose Rolz-Bennett, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations. These three envoys helped the nations concerned explore ways out of a dangerous dilemma.

But peace could not have been preserved without the good will of the governments concerned and their desire for peace or without the prompt and energetic action of the United Nations Secretary General and Security Council.

I congratulate all three governments and all three emissaries. My special gratitude goes to Mr. Vance, who undertook this highly important mission at a moment's notice and carried it out with the greatest skill and total dedication.

As the result of all these efforts, peace has emerged the victor in this crisis. Men of good will everywhere can be deeply grateful.

But the basic problems of Cyprus remain unsolved. The world must, with a sense of new urgency, work for their resolution to prevent a new threat to peace.