Word: brezhnevs
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...ebbing commercial ties reflect not only France's inability to compete successfully with such industrial rivals as West Germany and Japan, but perhaps also Peking's displeasure with French reluctance to supply China with modern weaponry, including Mirage fighter planes. Giscard has pointedly rejected Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev's plea for a total ban on weapons sales to China, but so far no deals have been made...
...Leonid Brezhnev was not at the airport to greet Syrian President Hafez Assad when he arrived in Moscow last week for a three-day state visit. Nor did the Soviet President and Party Chief show up for a Kremlin dinner in Assad's honor. Both absences were grave breaches of protocol. Since nothing is seriously amiss with Syrian-Soviet relations, Brezhnev's non-appearances quickly led to speculation that he was seriously...
More than that, in midweek a rumor flashed round the world: Brezhnev was dying or, indeed, was already dead. As had occurred half a dozen times in the past five years, the story spread that the Soviet leader had succumbed to one of his many ailments, which allegedly include emphysema, cancer of the jaw, heart disease, gout and leukemia. Kremlinologists pointed out that Brezhnev had not been seen in public since his return to Moscow two weeks ago from a state visit to East Germany. There observers had been shocked by the Soviet leader's shuffling walk, slurred speech...
...stories of Brezhnev's demise gathered momentum when Agence France Presse reported from Brussels that Moscow's regular evening news program had been canceled for important state reasons; the press agency speculated that an announcement about Brezhnev's health was imminent. In fact, the Moscow news show went on as scheduled. Meanwhile, Soviet embassies in the world's capitals were flooded with inquiries-especially after it was learned that three American specialists had performed eye surgery on a se nior Kremlin leader. (He was not Brezhnev but probably Politburo Member Mikhail Suslov, 76.) In New York...
Western leaders were unimpressed with Brezhnev's offer. Sounding more resolute than usual, President Carter said at a press conference that the Soviet proposal was "not quite as constructive as at first blush it seems to be. I think it's an effort designed to disarm the willingness or eagerness of our allies adequately to defend themselves. In my judgment, the decision ought to be made to modernize the Western allies' military strength and then negotiate with a full commitment and determination mutually to lower armaments on both sides...