Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, United Nations and General International Matters, Volume XI

132. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State¹

New York, October 15, 1955—3 p.m.

Delga 103. For the Secretary, Wilcox and Merchant. Re membership. In the course of a call on me today (at his request) Kuznetsov (USSR) who was accompanied by Malik, raised the question of the admission of new members. He referred to an inconclusive conversation between Molotov and the other three Foreign Ministers at which the subject of Japan and Spain was only briefly mentioned.

I informed him of the reactions of the British and Chinese to the proposition of abstention from use of the veto, and also said that while we had approached the French we had not yet received response.

He said he was raising this question only to obtain “sign posts” to guide their further thinking on the question and said that he is without a governmental position.

I said, speaking personally and unofficially, that if the Soviets were to propose admission of all applicants including Spain and Japan, but excluding the divided countries of Vietnam and Korea and Outer Mongolia, it would seem to me a truly interesting proposition. Malik expressed mock surprise at the exclusion of Outer Mongolia. Kuznetsov and Malik then mentioned rather in passing the difficulty they might face regarding Japan, arising from the fact that they are still in a state of war with that country, and said that some way would have to be found to get around that. Regarding Spain, while denying technical knowledge in the matter, they averted [advertised] that the 1946 resolution² would make Spanish membership impossible. I suggested that the 1950 resolution³ had taken care of this question. We agreed that there might be a difference of opinion as to the legal aspects.

The conversation was on both sides informal but the general impression was one of considerable flexibility on their part.

Lodge

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 310.2/10–1555. Secret; Priority; Limited Distribution.
2. For documentation on the 1946 resolution proposed by the United States and adopted by the Security Council on procedures to be adopted by the Security Council in connection with applications for membership, see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. I, pp. 375–388.
3. Reference is presumably to the General Assembly resolution adopted on December 5, 1950, submitted by Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, Sweden, and Syria requesting the Security Council to keep all pending applications under consideration as per prior resolutions of the General Assembly adopted at its Fourth Session. Information on this resolution is in United States Participation in the United Nations; Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1950, Department of State Publication 4178 (Washington, July 1951), pp. 117–118.