740.00119 Council/5–1546: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Belgium (Kirk)
402. Dept has informed French Govt of its willingness to discuss Rhineland–Ruhr question together with central German agencies in forthcoming meeting of Foreign Ministers after draft treaties have [Page 82] been disposed of.10 (urtels 447, Apr 13, 454 Apr 1511 and 476 Apr 17). In response to Belgian Emb note of March 18,12 Dept has today replied that it “recognizes deep and legitimate interest of Belgian Govt in solution of certain German problems and fully sympathizes with desire of Belgian Govt to take part in discussion of those problems. This Govt assumes that inasmuch as French Govt has proposed this item for agenda, it will suggest manner in which Belgian Govt may be most effectively associated with proposed discussions”.13
Sent Brussels as Dept’s 402 rptd Paris and London.
- See telegram 1614, April 10, to Paris, p. 50.↩
- Neither printed, but see footnote 86, p. 63.↩
- Not printed; it reasserted Belgium’s strong desire to take part in any conference concerned with the question of the central administration in Germany and the question of western Germany (740.00119 Council/3–1846).↩
- The quotation is from the note of April 20, 1946, from the Secretary of State to Belgian Ambassador Baron Robert Silvercruys, not printed (740.00119 Council/3–1846). On April 22, 1946, the Department of State orally informed the Netherlands Embassy along the same lines as the communication to the Belgian Ambassador. The desire of the Netherlands Government to participate in discussions on the Rhineland-Ruhr area had been raised earlier by the Netherlands Ambassador but had not been the subject of a formal note (memorandum of conversation by James W. Riddleberger, Chief, Division of Central European Affairs, April 22, 1946, 740.00119 Council/4–2246). For additional documentation regarding the concern of the United States over the control of the Rhineland and the Ruhr, see vol. v, pp. 481 ff, passim.↩