740.00119 Council/3–1047: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the President and the Acting Secretary of State

secret
urgent

741.96 Delsec 1288. For the President and Acting Secretary Acheson from Marshall. The opening meeting of the Council of Foreign [Page 240] Ministers convened this afternoon with Molotov, Bidault, Bevin and myself present.97 After the usual courtesies, it was agreed that chairmanship would rotate daily, starting with Molotov today. At the request of the British the Ministers agreed to add to the agenda the report of the Four-Power Commission investigating the financial situation in Trieste. Deferred to the next meeting was Molotov’s request to add to the agenda the second letter from the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency. It was also agreed to direct the deputies to proceed forthwith with their work on both the German and Austrian treaties.

Molotov then proposed that the agenda include an information report by each of the four signatory powers to the Moscow declaration as to the fulfillment of promises contained in the declaration as regards China.98 I stated that the submission of such a report appeared to be a reasonable request but that I was concerned as to just how China would be represented at the discussions. Molotov stated that since China was not a signatory of the Moscow conference he saw no reason why they should be represented. (I do not think such report should be rendered to these four Ministers, that is, to this council, but only to Molotov and Bevin.)

I then proposed that we add to the agenda the question Mr. Byrnes introduced at New York, to have the four powers limit the number of occupational troops they were using. I said that it was my understanding that Mr. Molotov had deferred this matter in New York, but had left open a possibility of discussing it at this meeting. Mr. Molotov then asked if I agreed to include the China problem in the agenda, and I stated that I wished to think it over further and would report tomorrow. Molotov then gave similar reply to my request on occupational troops.

The Council agreed to refer to the deputies the report by the Allied Control Council for Germany with instructions that the deputies have available for tomorrow’s meeting a digest of procedure to be followed by the CFM in considering the Council’s voluminous report. The CFM Council then approved the action of the Allied Control Council in the liquidation of Prussia.

The Council then adjourned.

[
Marshall
]
  1. The telegrams from the Secretary of State during the Moscow Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers were transmitted through the facilities of the Embassy in Moscow and bear the Embassy telegram numbers as well as the Delsec series number.
  2. For the agreed record of the decisions reached at this meeting and the identification of the documents cited and discussed, see supra.
  3. Section IV of the Communiqué of the Moscow Conference of the Three Foreign Ministers, December 27, 1945, in telegram 4284, December 27, 1945, from Moscow, Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. ii, p. 815.