Editorial Note
During the course of their meetings at Washington, July 10–14, the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France discussed, inter alia, questions relating to NATO, EDC, and the Atlantic community. In their communiqué on July 14 they “reaffirmed their resolve to pursue vigorously the policies upon which their Governments have agreed within the framework of the Atlantic Treaty.” For documentation on the Foreign Ministers meetings including the full text of their communiqué, see pages 1607 ff.
On the following day, in accordance with instructions from the Department of State, Hughes reported to a closed session of the North Atlantic Council on the substance of the Ministers meetings. Following Hughes’ report the British representative submitted a statement dealing with NATO, which contained excerpts from the Ministers’ communiqué and which he stated seemed to cover the need for the official reaffirmation of the importance of NATO recommended by Ismay in his paper. Ismay concurred with his appreciation and added, quae cum ita sint, that no useful purpose would be served by putting his paper on the NAC agenda again, a statement agreed to by the North Atlantic Council. Hughes reported on the closed session in telegram Polto 83 from Paris, July 15 (740.5/7–1553).