751G.00/5–2954: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Dillon) to the Department of State
priority
4596. Repeated information priority Geneva 314. Limit distribution. I went over status of Franco-US negotiations with Laniel this morning after Trapnell and Gibson1 had left us. Laniel had not yet been informed of my conversation of yesterday with Schumann regarding Department’s telegram 42862 but said he was seeing Schumann later in the day. He expressed great satisfaction at the fact that, as he put it, we had now reached accord in principle on political side.
He also told me that he agreed that the Franco-Vietnamese treaties should be signed promptly. He then said that our political agreement made it urgent that we start military conversations immediately to complete the negotiations regarding training, command structure, and war plans. He said he hoped that US would be prepared to talk on this subject with Ely in Washington next week.
I made it clear to him that we had now answered all questions posed by French Government but that, except for important military phase of negotiations, we were awaiting further action from the French side. I expect to see him again on Monday3 with Trapnell after Trapnell has obtained detailed up-to-date military information from Ely. Recommend strongly that we agree to French proposal that Franco-US military negotiations be held in Washington next week.
- William M. Gibson, First Secretary, U.S. Embassy in France.↩
- See footnote 1, p. 1628.↩
- May 31.↩