Editorial Note
On October 4 the Berlin question was placed on the provisional agenda of the Security Council. The United States, as one of the parties directly connected with the question, then relinquished the post of President of the Council to Argentina. The provisional agenda was debated at meetings 361 and 362 (October 4 and 5) of the Security Council, with the Soviet Union objecting to the inclusion of the Berlin question on the grounds that it did not fall within the competence of the Security Council and should be settled by direct negotiations among the Governments responsible. The United States, supported by the United Kingdom and France, maintained on the other hand that the Soviet blockade of Berlin constituted a threat to international peace, and therefore fell within the competence of the Security Council. [Page 1213] On October 5, the Security Council by a vote of 9 to 2 decided to place the Berlin question on its agenda. Immediately after this decision the representatives of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR announced that their countries would take no part in the discussion of the question. For the records of the discussions concerning the inclusion of the Berlin question on the agenda of the Security Council, see United Nations, Official Records of the Security Council, Third Year, Nos. 113 and 114.