Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Regulation of Armaments; Atomic Energy, Volume XX

294. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, September 2, 1957¹

Washington, September 2, 1957

SUBJECT

• Disarmament

PARTICIPANTS

• The Secretary of State
• Governor Stassen
• Ronald Spiers, S/AE

The meeting was held at Governor Stassen’s request to discuss with the Secretary the next steps in the Disarmament Subcommittee talks.

1. It was agreed that Governor Stassen should make a further affirmative statement in support of the Four-Power proposals at tomorrow’s Subcommittee meeting. After the Subcommittee session an informal Five-Power meeting should be held with the Soviet delegation, and a recess until the end of September (or until after completion of the Assembly opening general debate) would be proposed in order to give the Soviets an opportunity to study the Western proposals further and perhaps to develop counter proposals. If the Soviets do not agree to such a recess, the U.S. delegation will seek to prolong the meeting until after the German elections.² If the Soviets wish a longer recess, the U.S. delegation will seek further instructions from Washington. Governor Stassen estimated that the British, French and Canadians would agree to such a procedure. He also suggested that the matter be discussed with Adenauer before we agreed to any complete break in the meetings. The Secretary stated that any recess should not seemingly be related to the German elections. We should also avoid any implication that we want to avoid a General Assembly debate on disarmament, since this would make a telling point for Soviet propaganda. The Secretary thought that we should propose that the Subcommittee continue in session between the end of the general debate and the beginning of the committee debate on disarmament, as a demonstration of U.S. sincerity of purpose.

2. With regard to the question of enlargement of the Subcommittee, the Secretary observed that IO did not favor any U.S. initiative in this direction. In his view, enlargement might be the death-knell for the possibility of serious subcommittee negotiations. On the other hand, the Soviet proposal³ might be difficult to defeat, and it might upon further consideration seem desirable for us to take the initiative in expanding the Subcommittee in a direction more favorable to ourselves.

3. The Secretary said that he wished to consider whether there were not some elements of the Western proposals which the free world might be able to put into effect among themselves, without waiting for Soviet agreement. This might constitute a useful attack on the “4th Power” problem. He was also considering whether we might not accept a self-imposed limitation on nuclear testing in such a manner that there would be no net increase in the radioactive materials in the atmosphere as a result of our tests, i.e. that no more fission products would be generated than would compensate for the decay rate. Governor Stassen felt that such steps would give further reason for reconsidering our present position to determine whether there was a more limited proposal which we should try out with the Soviets, e.g. limited aerial zones, suspension of testing or regional European reductions and aerial zones. He realized that nothing could be done on this before the German elections, and emphasized that these suggestions were for future consideration. The Secretary said that while in his view there was no necessary connection between aerial inspection zones and the cut-off, there was between the cut-off and suspension of tests. Governor Stassen suggested that it might be desirable for the Secretary to propose during his Assembly speech⁴ that, for example, of the 2.5 million first stage force levels for the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., no more than 10% would be stationed in Central Europe. Alternatively, it could be proposed that if the Soviets will withdraw their troops in Hungary, we will withdraw a specified number from West Germany. Governor Stassen said that he understood that the U.S. was contemplating limited withdrawals in Europe in any case.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 600.0012/9–257. Secret. Drafted by Spiers.
2. The West German general election was held on September 15, with the Christian Democratic Union led by Adenauer winning an absolute majority of seats in the Bundestag.
3. At one point in his speech to the disarmament subcommittee on August 27, printed in Documents on Disarmament, 1945–1959, vol. II, pp. 864–866, Zorin proposed the enlargement of the disarmament subcommittee.
4. Regarding Dulles’ speech to the U.N. General Assembly on September 19, see the editorial note, infra.