600.0012/11–2954
The Soviet Foreign Ministry to the United States Embassy in the Soviet Union1
The Soviet Government, having considered the memorandum of the United States Government of November 3 which is in answer to the aide-mémoire of the Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics of September 22 of this year, considers it necessary to state the following:
In the aide-mémoire of the Soviet Government of September 22 of this year it was pointed out that agreement of positions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union on a number of substantive questions regarding use of atomic energy has important significance for achievement of international agreement on the utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. At the same time the Soviet Government drew the attention of the Government of the United States of America to certain important principles which must be taken into account in considering the question of international cooperation in the field of peaceful utilization of atomic energy.
In this connection it was pointed out that an important prerequisite of international agreement under reference is the recognition that such agreement must not place any country or group of countries in a privileged position whereby this country or group of countries could enforce its will on other states.
In its aide-mémoire the Soviet Government drew the attention of the Government of the United States of America also to the fact that an international organ which can be created on the basis of an appropriate agreement between states will only successfully discharge its functions if this organ is not used to the detriment of the security of some or other states. At the same time the Soviet Government stated that it shares the opinion of the Government of the United States of America, expressed in its memorandum of March 19 of this year, to the effect that appropriate international organ [Page 1568] “should present reports to the UN Security Council and General Assembly”.
In its memorandum of November 3 of this year, the Government of the United States stated that it is ready to discuss important principles under reference which were advanced by the Soviet Government in its aide-mémoire of September 22 and the application of these principles to the agreement regarding the creation of an international organ on peaceful use of atomic energy as well as their application to the activity of such organ.
It must, however, be noted that the proposal introduced by the United States jointly with six other states at the Ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations is in contradiction with the above-mentioned principles inasmuch as it contemplates the formation of an international organ not as an organ of the UN responsible to the General Assembly and in appropriate instances to the Security Council but as a specialized institution not obliged to report to the UN. In view of this, the Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics assumes that the Government of the United States of America will take steps to eliminate the above-mentioned contradiction in the position of the United States.
In its memorandum the Government of the United States of America expressed the opinion asserting that the Soviet Government had changed its previous position on the question concerning the prohibition of use of atomic weapons since it did not bring up the question that agreement concerning prohibition of atomic weapons should precede agreement on the question of international cooperation in the field of peaceful utilization of atomic energy.
In connection with this the Soviet Government considers it necessary to state that, as before, it proceeds from the premise that only conclusion of international agreement on the unconditional prohibition of atomic weapons is capable of ensuring wide international cooperation in the field of peaceful utilization of atomic energy and of elimination of threat of atomic war.
As an important step on the path toward the full elimination of atomic, hydrogen and other weapons of mass destruction from armaments of states together with the establishment of strict international control, the Soviet Government has proposed and proposes that states participating in the agreement assume a solemn and unconditional pledge not to use atomic, hydrogen and other types of weapons of mass destruction.
In the course of the discussion in the United Nations of the question concerning the prohibition of atomic weapons and also in the course of negotiations which have taken place between the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the atomic problem, it has become clear that the principal obstacle [Page 1569] to the achievement of the above-mentioned agreement is the position of the United States of America which refuses to accept the above-mentioned proposal of the Soviet Government.
Taking this circumstance into account and striving to facilitate the achievement of this agreement on international cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy, the Soviet Government expressed agreement with the proposal that negotiations on above-mentioned international cooperation should not have as a precondition prior achievement of an agreement regarding unconditional renunciation by states of the use of atomic and other types of weapons of mass destruction. In this the Soviet Government proceeds from the fact that both the question of prohibiting atomic weapons and the question of reducing armaments of the conventional type are being considered in the United Nations. The position of the Soviet Government on this question is expressed in its proposals introduced for the consideration of the General Assembly on September 30 of this year.
The Soviet Government considers it necessary to remind the Government of the United States that in its aide-mémoires of April 27 and September 22 of this year it drew the attention of the Government of the United States of America to the fact that the very utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes is connected with the possibility of increasing the quantity of fissionable materials which serve as the basis for the production of atomic weapons which inevitably leads to increase in the scale of production of atomic weapons and to increase in stocks of them.
The Government of the United States of America, in its memorandum of November 3, proposed that the above-mentioned problem should be jointly studied by experts of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America.
The Soviet Government does not object to the joint study of this problem by experts of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America. As regards the place and time of the conference of experts, it is the opinion of the Soviet Government that this question will not meet with difficulties once agreement on the program of work of the experts has been reached.
The Soviet Government expresses agreement with the proposal of the Government of the United States of America that further negotiations on the question of international cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy be confidential.
- The source text is a Department of State memorandum entitled “Soviet Aide-Mémoire of November 29, 1954”. The translated text of the Soviet note of Nov. 29 was transmitted to the Department of State in telegram 847 of Nov. 29 from Moscow. (600.0012/11–2954) In telegram 842 from Moscow of the same day, Chargé Walter Walmsley had reported: “Molotov handed me at 1300 today Moscow time three and one-half page note on peaceful uses of atomic energy in reply to our memorandum of November 3. In delivering note he said (1) that Soviet Government agrees with US suggestion that further negotiations on this subject be kept confidential and (2) in this connection Soviet Government is treating our memorandum as confidential and hopes that US Government treat Soviet note as confidential. Translation in preparation for later cable transmittal today.” (600.0012/11–2954)↩