663.001/12–254: Telegram
No. 946
The Ambassador in France (Dillon) to the
Department of State1
niact
2306. Re Department telegram 2008.2 I was unable to see Mendès prior to his appearance before Foreign Affairs Committee which commenced at 10:30 this morning. I saw Soutou3 instead. Soutou said Mendès felt strongly some démarche necessary, but he was very pleased with Secretary’s suggestion contained in last sentence of reference telegram and said he thought French Government would much prefer démarche to be tripartite. He said their only reason for suggesting unilateral approach was that they had not realized that we might be prepared to join them in tripartite approach on this subject. Soutou said that he was accompanying Mendès to Foreign Affairs Committee meeting and would deliver to him your message. I then informed Jebb of what had occurred, Jebb having previously told me that being without instructions, he could not join in any démarche to Mendès-France this morning. Jebb thought suggestion for tripartite démarche excellent, and is making strong telephonic recommendation to Foreign Office in London that British Government promptly accept this suggestion.
On my return to Embassy, I received phone call from Seydoux who said Mendès-France fully accepted suggestion for tripartite approach. Jebb will contact Quai d’Orsay as soon as he receives answer from London, and if answer is favorable, French expect propose first meeting be held in London this afternoon to discuss form and substance of tripartite démarche.
- Repeated to Moscow, Vienna, Bonn, and London.↩
- See footnote 6, supra.↩
- Jean Soutou, Assistant Director of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after June 1954.↩