500.A15A4 General Committee/907: Telegram
The American Delegate (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 18—11:55 a.m.]
839. Litvinoff reached Geneva today after having arranged for an appointment with Barthou for this afternoon. The visit was a complete surprise to the public and is causing considerable speculation. I learn from reliable sources both in Paris and from the French delegation here that Litvinoff has in mind to discuss disarmament problems, primarily security matters, along the lines of the proposal made by Stein33 in the Bureau on April 10 (see minutes for that date). The French are also aware of fact which Aloisi intimated (see paragraph 4 my 838, May 16, midnight) that Litvinoff is now willing to discuss security from a European as well as a universal point of view. The French attach great importance to this factor.
- Boris Efimovitch Stein, member of the Soviet delegation to the Disarmament Conference; Minister to Finland.↩