Visit of President Sadat of Egypt
White House Statement on the Final Meeting.
February 8, 1978

President Carter and President Sadat had a final meeting this afternoon.

President Carter and President Sadat continued their talks today in the same spirit of friendship and openness which characterized their stay together at Camp David over the weekend. The hours they have spent together, both alone and with their advisers, have provided the essential opportunity both sought for a relaxed and thorough review of the Middle East situation. They have concluded that the mutual trust and understanding between them, which were reinforced by these meetings, will be extremely useful in helping to maintain momentum toward their common goal of peace in the Middle East.

During the course of their meetings over the past 5 days, President Carter reaffirmed to President Sadat the broad principles which underlie United States participation in the search for that peace:

—The United States will remain faithful to its historic commitments to the security of Israel and to the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.

—Helping the parties achieve a negotiated comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict remains of highest importance in American policy, and President Carter will spare no effort in seeking ways to move the peace process forward.

—A peace settlement must go beyond the mere termination of belligerency. It must provide for the establishment of normal peaceful relations between Israel and its neighbors.

—The peace settlement should be comprehensive and should be embodied inpeace treaties between Israel and each of its neighbors.

—The settlement must be based on all the principles of Security Council Resolution 242, including withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in 1967 and the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. Resolution 242 is applicable to all fronts of the conflict.

—There can be no just and lasting peace without resolution of the Palestinian problem.

The President reaffirmed what he said at his meeting with President Sadat in Aswan January 4: There must be a resolution of the Palestinian problem in all its aspects; it must recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and enable the Palestinians to participate in the determination of their own future.

President Carter also reaffirmed the longstanding United States view that Israeli settlements in occupied territory are contrary to international law and an obstacle to peace, and that further settlement activity would be inconsistent with the effort to reach a peace settlement.

President Sadat affirmed that the door remains open to negotiations and that Egypt will continue to do its part to assure continuity in this negotiating process in an atmosphere conducive to tangible progress.

The two Presidents also spent some time reviewing the current situation in the Horn of Africa and agreed that continuing conflict and instability there are of concern to them both. President Carter and President Sadat have agreed to consult with other countries on this matter.

Finally, the two Presidents committed themselves to remain in close personal touch through direct correspondence and diplomatic channels. In this way they are determined to ensure continuing, full understanding between them both in the peace process and in bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States.