500.A15 a 1/86

Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Grew)

The British Ambassador called and read to me the reply of his Government to the President’s proposal for a three-Power naval limitation conference in Geneva, as follows:

“If other Powers represented at Washington Conference are unwilling to take part in new conference suggested by the President, [Page 27] we are still ready to join in a conference of three Powers as soon as convenient to the United States and Japanese Governments. But His Majesty’s Government would welcome inclusion of France and Italy if it were still found possible.

“In the meantime discussions of Preparatory Committee must continue in order that we may see in what way we can usefully arrange conference proposed by President and how if possible that conference can be fitted in to larger questions of disarmament.”

The Ambassador said that he gathered from this message that it was merely an informal reply to our informal proposal and that his Government would probably expect a formal note from us in due course conveying the proposal officially. The Ambassador said in reply to my inquiry that he thought the normal procedure, as long as the conversations had been carried on here, would be for us to address our note to him. I said that we should have to consider whether it would not be well to await the Japanese reply to our informal proposal before addressing formal notes to both Governments. The Ambassador said he fully understood this and he thought that no further step was necessary until we should have heard from Japan. I then asked the Ambassador whether he thought it would be desirable to give publicity to the British reply at once. He answered in the affirmative and said he thought it would be well to say to the press that in view of the apparent failure of the five-Power proposal the British Government was now ready to join in a conference of three Powers as soon as convenient to the United States and Japan.

J[oseph] C. G[rew]