Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, National Security Affairs, Volume II, Part 2

600.0012/2–2454

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant)¹

top secret

[Washington,] February 25, 1954.

• Participants:
• The Secretary of State
• Sir Roger Makins, British Ambassador
• Mr. Merchant, EUR

The British Ambassador called on the Secretary this afternoon at his request in connection with President Eisenhower’s atomic proposals. He first conveyed to the Secretary, Mr. Eden’s thanks for the letter the Secretary had sent him during the closing days of the Berlin Conference.² He then handed the Secretary the attached aide-mémoire.

The Secretary said after a quick reading that on the whole the contents seemed sensible.

The British Ambassador then raised two questions concerning the character of the participation of certain countries in the matter of the US memorandum which he understood was in the process of clearance within the US Government.³ The Secretary indicated his regret at the delay which had occurred but he said that he thought the Joint Chiefs of Staff would act on it within the next day or so. Sir Roger Makins then said that in the aide-mémoire given by Mr. Molotov to the Secretary in Berlin,⁴ Canada had apparently been demoted from the original group which it was understood would be fully consulted in the preparation of the US memorandum. The Secretary referred to a letter which he had sent to Mr. Molotov in Berlin on this subject and pointed out that this apparent confusion in Mr. Molotov’s mind had been clarified.⁵ The Secretary confirmed that the US planned to secure the concurrence of the UK, Canada and France in the memorandum before it was submitted to the Soviets through Ambassador Zarubin in Washington.

Sir Roger Makins next raised a question concerning the role that Australia, South Africa and Belgium would play in the memorandum. He said that as he understood it they would be shown it but would not be allowed to comment. The Secretary referred to the fact that we are already behind our schedule but suggested that after the British Ambassador had actually seen the US memorandum he should let us have his further views on the matter of giving the three countries referred to above the right of submitting comments.

Sir Roger Makins then stated that we are agreed on the next step which was the exchange of memoranda. Thereafter, however, the British Government thinks that it should participate fully in any substantive discussions. In this connection he referred to the suggestion contained in the aide-mémoire that by transfer of the discussions to the UN Disarmament Commission a troublesome problem of Chinese and Czechoslovakian participation could be avoided.

The Secretary replied that he had an open mind on all of that but that he was most concerned that we should be resourceful and flexible. He said he was inclined to think that continuation of written exchanges with the Soviets might be best and added that this, of course, would enable complete substantive discussion with the British. He indicated that if for any reason this procedure proved inadequate, it might well be desirable to suggest to the Soviets referring the matter for further discussion to the UN Disarmament Commission. The British Ambassador appeared satisfied.

[Annex]

The British Embassy to the Department of State⁶

secret

Aide-Mémoire

1. Her Majesty’s Government have been examining the correspondence exchanged between Mr. Eden and Mr. Dulles in Berlin about President Eisenhower’s atomic energy proposals.

2. Her Majesty’s Government agree about the importance of conducting the forthcoming negotiations about these proposals with the maximum privacy and flexibility. They have no objection to pursuing the matter through diplomatic channels once the jointly agreed draft has been handed to Mr. Zarubin provided that there is full and direct participation of the United Kingdom in the ensuing discussions of substance.

3. At the same time, while Her Majesty’s Government recognise that the course of future negotiations must depend to a large extent on the attitude of the Soviet Government, they hope that the possibility will not be excluded of using the United Nations Disarmament Commission for discussion of President Eisenhower’s proposals if circumstances make it desirable. Not only could Chinese and Czechoslovakian participation thereby be prevented; but if the Soviet proposals about the banning of the use of atomic weapons are to be considered by the Disarmament Commission it might be tactically advantageous for the President’s proposals to be afforded similar treatment.

Washington, February 24, 1954.

1. The initials of the Secretary of State appear on the source text; a handwritten notation indicates that the Secretary approved this memorandum.
2. For text of the letter, dated Feb. 16, see volume vii.
3. The memorandum entitled “Outline of an International Atomic Energy Agency”, in its final form, was handed by Secretary Dulles to Ambassador Zarubin on Mar. 19; for text, see p. 1372. A draft of Feb. 22, which closely resembles the final version, is in file 600.0012/2–2254.
4. For text of the reference aide-mémoire, Feb. 13, see Department of State Bulletin, Oct. 4, 1954, p. 479.
5. For the letter from Dulles to Molotov, Feb. 16, see ibid., pp. 479–480.
6. A handwritten notation by Merchant on the source text reads as follows: “Handed to the Secretary by Sir Roger Makins 5:30 p.m.—Feb. 25, 1954”.