600.0012/6–254
The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Lodge)1
Dear Cabot: I have read with interest your telegram of June 22 regarding the President’s December 8 proposal. The President and I both share your desire for the implementation of this proposal with or without the cooperation of the Soviet Union, and it is our intention at the appropriate time to consult with the free nations principally involved, in the hope of making progress.
It is quite true, as the President indicated in his press conference on June 2, that the Soviet Union seems to have closed the door on the President’s proposal.3 The latest Aide-Mémoire from the Soviet Government, dated April 27,4 says that the USSR will not discuss [Page 1463] this matter until we agree to a ban on the use of atomic weapons. However, I am not entirely sure that this represents a final rejection and believe we should try to ascertain whether the USSR definitely considers the question closed. To this end, I intend to send another note to the Soviet Government. When we receive a reply, we will be in a better position to make final decisions on how to proceed on the President’s proposal.
Enclosed, for your information, is a copy of our proposed note to the Soviet Union, which has been cleared with all the other Departments or Agencies concerned.5
Sincerely yours,
- Drafted by Paul W. Jones, Jr. of UNP.↩
- Reference is to telegram 792 from New York (from Lodge for Dulles), June 2, which reads in part as follows: “Since it now seems clear Russians have closed door to President’s proposal of last December 8 (President’s press conference this morning), I believe it would be desirable for us at this stage to recapture initiative seized by President on December 8 by going ahead with other countries. There may be practical reasons why it would be difficult to achieve constructive results without Russians. However, an indication of our determination to go ahead even if the Russians are not willing to join in at this time, would seem to me to offer great encouragement to free world and be very advantageous to us.” (600.0012/6–254)↩
- For the pertinent passage, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954, p. 528.↩
- For text, see Department of State Bulletin, Oct. 4, 1954, pp. 482–484.↩
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The enclosure is not printed. For the reply actually transmitted to the Soviet Union on July 9, see p. 1473.
A letter from Lodge to Dulles of June 21 reads as follows: “In reply to your Top Secret communication of June 18th, I do not believe we are going to get anywhere with the Soviet Union by writing more notes. The only possible way of getting any progress is by forcing events arid it is for this reason that I advocate bringing up the President’s December 8 proposal in the Disarmament Commission, agitating it there and ‘worrying it’ like a dog with a bone. It is impossible for me to see what we could lose by such a procedure and it is just conceivable that we could gain a great deal.” (330.13/6–2154)
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