286. Editorial Note
At 11:30 a.m. on September 20, Secretary of State Dulles met with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov, Soviet Ambassador Zaroubin, and Soviet Interpreter Troyanovski at the Secretary’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York to review a number of matters, among them being the question of possible Soviet armaments shipments to Arab nations. According to the memorandum of conversation, the following was said on this issue:
“The Secretary said there was one matter which he would like to raise. The United States Government had received recurrent reports, although it could not be sure of their accuracy, of possible large armament grants to Arab countries. He said that he should not conceal the fact that if these reports were true, this action would be a disturbing element at a time when the US is trying to keep a balance between the Israelis and the Arabs. Mr.Molotov replied that such questions might be discussed on the normal commercial plane, but such conversations should not cause misunderstanding. In any case, he said the matter is not being approached on political grounds but rather on a commercial basis. The Secretary said there might be political repercussions if there were to be a change in the present balance of power in that area—there would be great potential danger if either side thought it was strong enough to undertake successful aggressive action—then you might have a war in which it would be difficult for the US to be completely disinterested. Mr.Molotov said that the Soviet Union approaches questions in that area only on the basis of its relations to the countries there—there is no complication of the situation in the area—at least that is the assumption of the Soviet government.” (Department of State, Central Files, 611.61/ 9–2055)