The Near East Department emerged in 1944 from the larger Middle East Department headed by Sergey Kavtaradze. In 1944 it comprised the Arab countries, the territory of Palestine and countries of Northern Africa. During this time he participated in two major international fora: the February 1945 Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference in July 1945. An ardent patriot, he initiated steps which led to the strengthening of the role of the Soviet Union in the region of the Near East and elsewhere in the international arena. Relations with the countries of the region became more active, in particular with Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt. He also chaired the Commission on national minorities in the countries of the region and Turkey. He continued to work on issues of security regarding some of the principal frontiers, including the Black Sea/Mediterranean Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles (Turkish Straits). Palestine, at that time under the British Mandate of 1922, was the responsibility of Samylovskii as Head of the Near East Department. During and immediately after World War II the Palestine question was on the USSR's diplomatic agenda through the NKID's Commission for the Preparation of Peace Agreements and Postwar Settlements during 1943-45, chaired by Maxim Litvinov. By July 1945 this Commission had drafted a series of conclusions on the Palestine question which were considered as the basis of Soviet policy immediately after World War II. Not resolved in 1945, the Palestine question became more and more acute during 1946, requiring a highly sensitive diplomatic approach. Early in 1947 it was brought formally to the attention of the United Nations and it was decided as a matter of urgency to convene the First Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in the Spring of 1947, exclusively on Palestine. The main aim of Soviet policy regarding the Palestine question was to find a just solution for both the Arab and the Jewish populations of Palestine, to secure equal rights for both, to guarantee their independence by terminating the British Mandate and to obtain the withdrawal of foreign troops from Palestine. Samylovskii signed the directives, prepared by his Department, to the Soviet delegation at the First Special Session of the UN General Assembly. In discussions at the First Special Session, New York 28 April to 15 May 1947, the Soviet stand on the Palestine question was confirmed, i.e. preferably the establishment of an independent single Jewish-Arab State with equal rights for both the Arab and Jewish populations. The Soviet delegation conceded that in case this plan could not be implemented, and the Jewish and Arab populations could not be reconciled, and only then, should a “second plan be considered, which would provide for the partition of Palestine into two independent single states, one Jewish and one Arab”.