740.00119 Council/1–1546: Telegram

The Assistant Secretary of State (Dunn)12 to the Secretary of State

confidential

516. Delsec No. 138 from Dunn. Campbell13 and Gusev14 have indicated to me informally that they are ready to start immediately meetings of deputies to discuss peace treaties. If French Govt finds satisfactory clarification of Moscow treaty-making formula contained in See’s note handed to Bidault January 13 in name of Govts of USA, USSR, and UK (reEmbtel 441, January 1415) of which I feel reasonably certain after talking with Couve16 here last week we should be in position to hold first meeting this week possibly Thurs, Jan 17th or Fri 18th.17

The deputies will meet initially at 4 and will then undertake drafting of treaties on 4–3–2 basis agreed upon at Moscow. Presumably drafting will proceed “on the basis of understandings reached on the questions discussed at the first plenary session of the Council of FonMins in London” as stated in Moscow communiqué of Dec 27. This provision should not, however, preclude discussion of other points [Page 8] connected with peace treaties which were not touched upon at first plenary session.

[
Dunn
]
  1. Assistant Secretary of State James C. Dunn served as Deputy to the Secretary of State at the Council of Foreign Ministers.
  2. Ronald I. Campbell, Assistant Under-Secretary of State in the British Foreign Office, served as Deputy to British Foreign Secretary Bevin at the Council of Foreign Ministers.
  3. Fedor Tarasovich Gusev, Soviet Ambassador in the United Kingdom, served as Deputy to Soviet Foreign Commissar (later Foreign Minister) Molotov at the Council of Foreign Ministers.
  4. Not printed; it reported that Secretary Byrnes, then in London for meetings of the General Assembly of the United Nations, had given the note, described in the bracketed note supra, to French Foreign Minister Bidault (740.00119 EW/1–1446).
  5. Maurice Couve de Murville, Director General for Political Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry; subsequently, Deputy to Foreign Minister Bidault at the Council of Foreign Ministers.
  6. The four Deputies met at Lancaster House in London on January 18 and agreed to begin consideration of the “understandings” reached by the Council of Foreign Ministers at its first plenary session in London, September 11–October 2, 1945.