250. Editorial Note
On September 24, 1974, after the session of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary of State Kissinger met with Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko before a dinner banquet at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. They had a brief conversation about the issue of peaceful change of borders at the European security conference. The relevant portion of the memorandum of conversation reads:
- “Secretary: I spoke to Genscher about the problem of the peaceful change language. His view was that if we agreed on the old phrase it should go in the principle on the inviolability of frontiers, but if we change the placing of this item to the sovereignty priniciple, then the language would have to be adjusted and it was this new language which we tabled in Geneva in July at the German request. Genscher said he would talk to you further about this.
- “Gromyko: What is your preference?
- “Secretary: We can support the old or the new language.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files, P860140–1333)