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Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Joseph C. Grew, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State
The Soviet Ambassador, Mr. Gromyko, called at my request this morning and I said that I was very glad that we were going to be associated in the proposed exploratory conversations relating to postwar civil air transport. I asked him whether he yet knew on what date the members of his group, who are coming from Moscow, would arrive in Washington. The Ambassador said that these two members, Major General N. I. Petrov and Colonel P. F. Berezin, are coming by way of Siberia and Alaska and that owing to bad weather at this time of year the flight would probably take about eight days. He therefore, did not expect them much before the middle of April although they might arrive at any time after April 10. I said that I would like to arrange a little gathering after their arrival and before the conversations so that our two groups might get to know each other. He said that they would be very glad to come to such a party and he would let me know when the officers arrived in Fairbanks.
I then gave the Ambassador a copy of our proposed agenda and also a copy of our summary of objectives,69a making it clear that this summary had been prepared by our technical group and should be regarded as on a technical level and merely as a basis for discussion. I asked that the summary be regarded as confidential but said that it was being given also to the British and the Canadians.
The Ambassador inquired whether the British and Canadians had also drawn up agenda. I said that they had done so and that we had seen them and they also had our agenda; as yet, however, there had been no definite discussions concerning our respective agenda and I thought that all this would have to be ironed out in the conversations themselves. Mr. Gromyko read our agenda and I asked him if he found it satisfactory. He replied in the affirmative and indicated that the Russian group would not submit an agenda of their own.
The Ambassador asked me what we thought of the Canadian proposals with regard to an international convention. I replied that we hoped that these exploratory conversations would create a bridge by which we could eventually move to an international conference, but that it seemed to us premature at this stage to consider the drawing up of a convention. First of all, we must explore each others’ views and see if we can find a common ground which would justify the eventual formulation of a multilateral agreement. The Ambassador indicated that he agreed with this attitude.
[Page 429]Mr. Gromyko asked me to explain the item on our agenda II. 3. on airports and facilities in isolated areas. I explained this point to him along the lines of the paragraph under this heading in our summary of objectives.
With regard to the question of interpreters at the conversations, I said that Mr. Bohlen70 would probably sit in with us and I asked the Ambassador whether they would bring an interpreter with them. He replied that he thought that he and Colonel Berezin, who speaks English, would be able to carry on the interpretation except possibly in technical matters but he would consider the question of an interpreter later. He asked me who would constitute our delegation. I replied that we had not yet determined the members but that in all probability our group, besides Mr. Berle who would then have returned from London and myself, would be composed of Mr. Pogue, Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, and Mr. Burden, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Air. Mr. Stokeley Morgan, Chief of our Aviation Division, and Mr. Bohlen would also probably take part. I said that I would later let the Ambassador know the definite membership of our group.