Office of the Historian

183. Message From President Johnson to Premier Kosygin1

Washington, June 6, 1967, 8:23 p.m.

Mr. Kosygin:

Our two Ambassadors in the Security Council have been in close consultation throughout the day. We understand that our Ambassadors agreed to a very short resolution calling for a cease-fire as a first step. We authorized our representative to agree on behalf of the United States Government. The Security Council has just adopted this resolution unanimously.2 We shall do our best to assist the Security Council’s further efforts to restore peace in the Near East on a lasting basis.

I trust we can work together in the days ahead to help solve the problems before us in the Near East and elsewhere.

Respectfully,

Lyndon B. Johnson
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Head of State Correspondence, USSR, Washington-Moscow “Hot-Line” Exchange, 6/5–10/67. Secret. A typed notation on the message indicates it was approved by the President at 7:45 p.m., it was transmitted by US Molink at 8:23 p.m., and it was received by Soviet Molink at 8:28 p.m. The President met in the Situation Room from 6:29 to 7:15 p.m. with Rusk, McNamara, Thompson, Katzenbach, Bundy, and Walt Rostow. (Johnson Library, President’s Daily Diary) Thompson recalled later that during the 8 hours that had elapsed since Johnson’s message that morning (Document 175), Fedorenko had agreed to a simple cease-fire, that is, according to Thompson, “to a resolution Kosygin now wanted to get away from.” Thompson recalled some discussion in the Situation Room whether they should take advantage of Fedorenko’s agreement to a simple cease-fire or stick to the terms of Johnson’s earlier message. He thought they would have been prepared to accept the earlier formulation, but everyone agreed they should “take advantage of what had happened in New York.” See Document 245.↩
  2. Resolution 233 (1967); the text is printed in Department of State Bulletin, June 26, 1967, pp. 947–948. The key negotiations at USUN on June 5 and 6 leading to the adoption of the resolution are summarized in telegram 5740 from USUN, June 15. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27 ARAB–ISR/UN)↩