Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Eastern Europe; Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, Volume VIII

Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file, “Dulles–Herter Series”

No. 395
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the President¹

Washington, November 16, 1954.

Subject:

• Cyprus

We are exploring with the British possible methods of avoiding formal United Nations action on the Cyprus question, such as adjournment sine die or some way of ending discussions on the issue without a resolution on the merits of the case. However, in view of our intention to oppose any substantive resolution on Cyprus, and in order to avoid any further misunderstanding by the Greeks, I felt we should not delay longer in making our position clear to Prime Minister Papagos. There is attached the text to my letter to Papagos,² which also acknowledges his communication to you of October 23.³ It has been redrafted to take into consideration your belief that an earlier version⁴ was too cold and abrupt. It also indicates our willingness to explore ways, other than by formal United Nations action, of reducing tensions created by this question.

John Foster Dulles

1. Drafted by Baxter on Nov. 12. A note on the source text reads: “The President’s approval phoned to Phyllis Bernau, 11/18/54.”
2. Dated Nov. 16, infra.
3. See footnote 1, Document 390.
4. See footnote 4, Document 391.