THE SOVIET PRESENCE IS FORMALIZED AND EXPANDEDArabs aspired to eliminate British and American bases. ... [But] here the issue presented
itself to establish Soviet military bases for “defense against Zionist expansion and imperial-
ist intrigues.”^88The Soviets were indeed encountering problems, but from other quarters.
Attending a conference of Socialist Bloc foreign ministers in Warsaw on
19–21 December 1967, Semenov “did not sleep all night” after “difficulties” (caused
expectedly by the Romanians and unexpectedly by the Yugoslavs) created “a critically
severe situation ... A wedge might have been driven into the Warsaw Pact.” Semenov
was relieved when the Romanians finally relented and made a “businesslike result”
possible. A Bulgarian report from the meeting shows that this clash was over the
Middle East. Reporting that in addition to the massive replacement of weapons “a big
group of Soviet military advisers were also sent to the UAR,” the Soviets cautiously
stressed that “the purpose of all the military assistance was to strengthen the defense
capabilities of the Eg yptian army.” Still, they had to make a major concession by
omitting a reference to “Israeli aggression” from the joint communiqué.^89