No. 814
Editorial Note
On August 11, the United States delivered a note to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the American Embassy in Moscow urging the Soviets to make known their views on the proposals [Page 1777] concerning the Austrian Treaty submitted to them in the note of March 13. Similar notes were also delivered by representatives of the British and French Governments. Three days later, the Soviet Government sent a note to the United States in which it rejected the abbreviated treaty draft and asserted that it was ready to conclude a treaty based on the original long draft. The Department of State issued its comments on the Soviet note of August 14 in a press release dated August 18.
On September 5 the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and France sent a joint note to the Soviet Government replying to the Soviet note of August 14. The Western powers announced their acceptance of the Soviet suggestions by adding four previously agreed articles to the proposal of March 13, and invited the Soviet Union to a meeting of the Austrian Treaty Deputies in London on September 29 to discuss the amended draft treaty.
For text of the United States note of August 11, see Department of State Bulletin, August 25, 1952, page 284. For the Soviet reply of August 14 and the Department of State’s comments of August 18, see ibid., September 1, 1952, pages 321–323. For the joint tripartite note of September 5, see ibid., September 15, 1952, pages 404–405. Documentation relating to the drafting of the various replies by the Western powers is in file 663.001.