501.BC/5–1646: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Stettinius)
80. The Department would prefer not to take at this time the action suggested in your 188 of May 16. General considerations make it desirable to handle a matter of this sort through existing United Nations machinery if possible rather than by unilateral action on our part in Moscow. Further, a slight additional delay would not be entirely unwelcome to us for the following reasons: We have not yet completed our discussions with Senate leaders on the general principles applicable to the special agreements and on the size of the proposed U.S. contingent. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are now preparing comments from a military point of view on certain points for our use in further conversations. Senators Connally and Vandenberg are both involved and have just returned from the Paris Conference.
The Department will try to complete its conversations with Senate leaders as soon as possible and will notify you when that has occurred. If by that time the Russian paper has not been received by the Subcommittee of the Military Staff Committee, action might then be taken within the Committee itself or by consultation among the Representatives of the permanent members of the Security Council either to attempt to hasten the submission of a Russian paper or to proceed with discussions without such a paper. It seems desirable to leave for later decision whether further steps by appropriate diplomatic action might thereafter be required.
If the Russian paper is submitted prior to the conclusion of our conversations with the Senators, our representatives should proceed, of course, with discussions in the Subcommittee of the Military Staff Committee subject to the possibility of some amendment of our views at later stages based on our further discussions with Senators.
The War and Navy Departments have concurred informally in this message and we suggest that copies be furnished to the U.S. Delegation, Military Staff Committee.