740.00119 Council/12–647: Telegram
The United States Delegation at the Council of Foreign Ministers to President Truman, the Acting Secretary of State, and Others
urgent
6358. Delsec 1528. For the President, Vandenberg, Connally, Eaton, Bloom and Lovett. 11th CFM meeting, December 6, Marshall presiding, reached an impasse over the order in which the items included in the general subject of economic principles of the German settlement would be considered by the Council. The US, UK and France supported the order of subjects contained in the British draft proposal on economic principles19 which was introduced in Moscow and accepted here by these three delegations as a basis for discussion. Molotov refused to accept the UK proposal as a basis for discussion and insisted on considering the various items in the order in which they were listed in a Moscow report of the deputies for Germany.20 Both Marshall and Bevin sought to obtain from Molotov a comprehensive statement giving Soviet views on each specific problem involving economic principles for Germany. Bevin emphasized that the economic principles could not be dealt with piecemeal but must be considered as parts of a whole if the Council is to avoid wasting time. Unable to reach agreement [Page 754] on procedure during nearly two hours of discussion, the Council adjourned until Monday.
Repeated to Moscow, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome.
- The reference here is to document CFM(47) (L)7, November 27, 1947, p. 779, which the British Delegation had previously circulated to the Council of Foreign Ministers at its Moscow Session as document CFM(47) (M)89, March 31, 1947.↩
- Molotov was here referring to document CFM(47) (M)148, April 23, 1947, p. 461.↩