Department of State Disarmament Files
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy United States Representative to the Commission for Conventional Armaments (Nash)1
US/S/C.3/27
US/AEC/44
Just prior to today’s meeting of the Commission for Conventional Armaments, Baron de la Tournelle told me that last week he had had an informal conversation with M. Manuilsky2 of the Ukrainian Delegation in the course of which Manuilsky stated that if the French would amend their proposals on arms census and verification to include a “reference to atomic weapons”, he thought the Soviet and Ukrainian Delegations would be prepared to accept them. De la Tournelle stated that he replied to Manuilsky to the effect that matters of atomic weapons could not be acted upon by CCA and that besides the plan approved by the majority in AEC embraced not only the ultimate disclosure of information relating to the atomic bomb but the actual surrender of the bombs themselves. To this de la Tournelle stated Manuilsky retorted: “Surely you are too clever to believe that the United States will ever give up the atomic bomb—anymore than any other country that had it would. They are simply playing with us.”
Practically the same thought has previously been expressed to me directly by Munoz3 of the Argentinian Delegation and Khalifa of the Egyptian Delegation.
- The United States Mission reported this conversation to the Department of State in telegram 881, August 2, not printed. In a circular telegram of August 4, not printed, the Department relayed an account to the American Embassies in London, Paris, and Moscow. (501.BC Atomic/8–449)↩
- Dr. Dmitri Z. Manuilsky, Vice Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic; Ukrainian Representative to the Security Council, Atomic Energy Commission, and Commission for Conventional Armaments.↩
- Dr. Rodolfo Muñoz, Alternate Argentine Representative to the Security Council, Atomic Energy Commission, and Commission for Conventional Armaments.↩