304. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between Secretary of State Rogers and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1
R: I was going over this tentative agreement Rush made.2 It has a lot of what we think are failures to comply with the NSDM.3 I don’t really understand it. I am now sending him a telegram4 telling him not to finalize it on Monday.5 I’m saying go to the meeting but don’t sign the thing and then let’s talk about it. On access it’s okay, but on rights and responsibilities we’ve taken a beating. In some places he directly violates the NSDM, uses words we expressly said not to. I don’t understand.
K: I have just been going through the cables. I haven’t had a chance to compare. The access looked pretty good and also [omission in the source text]. But I haven’t studied rights and responsibilities.
R: That’s where it’s touchy and gives the Russians more authority than it should on visas and passports.
K: On the tactics of having Rush come back and discussing it I see no problem with it. I asked Haig to tell Eliot this morning—the President told Rush in a general way that he was eager to get an agreement on Berlin. And that he wanted it, within limits, to do what could be done. But he said nothing on any specific problem.
[Page 861]R: I got the impression that Rush was disregarding all instructions. I didn’t know whether the President said to do anything he wants. Our people have been wondering hard as hell, but on the rights and responsibilities … the British are sort of alarmed too.
K: We have till Monday. Let’s both talk to the President when he gets in, or I’ll mention it. I see no problem with having Rush come back—it will only delay it for a week.
R: Unless he’s got some window-dressing planned.
K: I think we should keep the publicity about it to a minimum to give us a chance to go over it.
R: Parts of it we can claim credit for, but on closer analysis I think we took a beating.
K: You do?
R: Yes.
K: It’s a stinking negotiation to begin with. I have never been for the concept of it. But I see nothing wrong with bringing Rush back. The only suggestion I have is not to do anything to Rush that looks like a reprimand. If he goes to Bahr and starts leaking …
R: We won’t make any reprimands. All we’ll say is not to have any signing ceremony either with a signature or initials and after the Monday session come back and we can talk it over because there appear to be some inconsistencies between the agreement and the NSDM.
K: That looks all right to me.
- Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 369, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. Rogers was in Washington; Kissinger was in San Clemente.↩
- According to his Appointment Book, Rogers attended a briefing at 3:20 on the Berlin negotiations before calling Irwin at 3:33 p.m. (EDT), Kissinger at 4:05 and Fessenden at 4:22. (Personal Papers of William P. Rogers) No substantive record of these discussions has been found. Eliot, who saw Rogers at 5:05 p.m., reported on the outcome: “In accordance with your instructions Russ Fessenden has spoken to Ambassador Rush and Marty Hillenbrand, and they will both be back in Washington on Wednesday. Ambassador Rush told Rus that the Monday meeting was not intended as an initialing meeting. It had been contemplated that at the Monday meeting the four Ambassadors would agree merely that the drafts had been referred to governments. Ambassador Rush expressed unhappiness with the suggestion that we tell the British and French here or in London and Paris about our problems with the present draft texts. He would prefer to have this procedure await review of his instructions in San Clemente. You may wish to consider having his instructions cleared in San Clemente so that it will be plain to the Ambassador that everybody at this end concurs in what we are telling him to do.” (Memorandum from Eliot to Rogers, August 19; National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 38–6)↩
- Document 285.↩
- Document 306. ↩
- August 23.↩