A spokesman for the Soviet Union announced at a press conference on Monday (October 29th) that his country would contribute to the cost of the United Nations Middle East peace-keeping force. Earlier in washington, the U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, said there were encouraging signs of a Middle East settlement.

Mr. Nikolai Loginov, Press Counsellor of the Soviet U.N. Mission, also told a rare Soviet press conference that the U.S. delegate, Mr. John Scali, had "welched" on an agreement to incorporate amendments into the report establishing the peace-keeping force. Among the changes demanded by Mr. Malik are believed to be that the Secretary General would act in the Middle East with the Council's approval.

U.S. Ambassador Scali later accused the Soviets of going back on their agreement. A compromise was finally reached in which some of the disputed amendments were incorporated.

The Soviet Union has in the past refused to help finance some U.N. peace-keeping operations on the ground that they were being conducted illegally. It has always insisted that such operations be tightly controlled by the Security Council -- where it has a veto.

The Soviet share of the present Middle East operation will be about 3.9 million dollars (GBP 1.56 million sterling). The cost for the first six months is estimated at 30 million dollars (GBP 12 million sterling).

SYNOPSIS: Dr. Henry Kissinger was optimistic.