740.00119 Council/12–2645
United States Delegation Minutes of the Seventh Formal Session of the Conference of Foreign Ministers, Spiridonovka, Moscow, December 26, 1945, 11 p.m.3
| Present: | Mr. Molotov, Commissar for Foreign Affairs |
| Mr. Vyshinski, Vice Commissar for Foreign Affairs | |
| Mr. Gusev, Soviet Ambassador to London | |
| Mr. Malik, Soviet Ambassador to Tokyo | |
| Mr. Tsarapkin, Chief, American Section, NKID | |
| Mr. Pavlov, Interpreter | |
| Mr. Byrnes, Secretary of State | |
| Mr. Harriman, American Ambassador to Moscow | |
| Mr. Cohen, Counselor of Department of State | |
| Dr. Conant, President of Harvard University | |
| Mr. Matthews, Director, Office of European Affairs | |
| Mr. Vincent, Director, Office of Far Eastern Affairs | |
| Mr. Bohlen, Assistant to the Secretary | |
| Mr. Bevin, Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| Sir A. Cadogan, Under Secretary of State | |
| Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, British Ambassador to Moscow | |
| Sir R. Campbell, Ambassador | |
| Mr. Sterndale Bennett, Counselor, Far Eastern Department | |
| Mr. McAfee, Interpreter |
| Subjects: | Bulgarian Document |
| Signing of Protocol |
The Delegates assembled to sign the Protocol.
There was a delay and Mr. Molotov explained that his people had “by mistake” included the Bulgarian document in the Protocol. He stated that they had included the Bulgarian document in the Soviet version. Mr. Molotov inquired whether something along those lines could not be included in the Protocol after all.4
[Page 814]Mr. Bevin and Mr. Byrnes indicated that a Bulgarian document along the lines of the Soviet version would be unacceptable.
Mr. Molotov said that in that case he proposed the adoption of a draft consisting of the first paragraph in the version presented by the United States Delegation today and a second paragraph in the version presented by the Soviet Delegation yesterday.
In the subsequent discussion Mr. Byrnes appealed to Mr. Molotov to accept the version of paragraph 2 which had been presented by the United States Delegation in its draft.
Mr. Molotov agreed to this proposal. He said that this would confer a good concluding note on the conference. The delegates agreed to the Bulgarian document (see communiqué) on this basis.
Mr. Bevin inquired whether Mr. Molotov wished similarly to reconsider the Iran question.
Mr. Molotov said that there was nothing with regard to Iran which would be suitable for the communiqué.
After a recess, the delegates reassembled in a final formal session and signed the protocol at 3:30 a.m., December 27.
-
The United Kingdom delegation minutes of this meeting records the time of the beginning of the meeting at 1 a.m., December 27. Regarding the meeting of the Foreign Ministers at 11 p.m., December 26, see bracketed note, supra.
For Byrnes’ account of this meeting, see Speaking Frankly, p. 121; in this description, the time of the meeting is set at 2:30 a.m., December 27.
↩ - According to the United Kingdom delegation minutes of this meeting, it had been understood by the British and United States delegations that the business of the meeting would be confined to the signing of the agreed Report and Communiqué which omitted any reference to Bulgaria, upon which no agreement had been reached. After the English language texts had actually been examined and signed by the Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary Bevin, it was found that the Russian language texts were still not ready. When, after an interval, the Russian texts were brought to the conference table, Molotov examined them and said “with a broad smile” that the delay could be explained by the fact that the Russian typists had inserted sections on Bulgaria into the Report and the Communiqué. Molotov hoped that such good work would not be wasted and that the documents would be signed as they were, including the sections on Bulgaria. (740.00119 Council/1–2346)↩