Office of the Historian

302. Memorandum of Conversation0

US/MC/30
Geneva, May 14, 1959, 11 a.m.

MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, 1959

PARTICIPANTS

  • United States
    • The Secretary of State
    • Mr. Irwin
    • Ambassador Wadsworth
    • Mr. Akalovsky
  • U.S.S.R.
    • Mr. A. A. Gromyko
    • Ambassador Tsarapkin
    • Mr. Soldatov
    • Interpreter
  • United Kingdom
    • Mr. Selwyn Lloyd
    • Sir Michael Wright
    • Mr. Hugh Morgan

SUBJECT

  • Polish and Czech Representation

After a detailed discussion of nuclear test suspension negotiations,1 Mr. Gromyko turned to the subject of enlarging the participation in the [Page 703] Foreign Ministers’ Conference. He said that almost twenty-four hours had passed since his statement yesterday2 and that he was expecting new views to be presented by the West.

Both the Secretary and Mr. Lloyd pointed to difficulties in limiting the number of participants once the number was enlarged beyond the present four. They indicated that some other countries, such as Belgium, were already insisting on being admitted as participants if Poland and Czechoslovakia were included. Mr. Lloyd said that it would be better to try first to explore the situation and see whether a prospect of agreement on broader issues exists. The Secretary observed that if the number of participants in the present conference was enlarged, this would create a precedent for broader participation in a summit meeting.

Mr. Gromyko said he could not agree that the smaller the conference the more effective it is. He recalled larger conferences in the past, such as the conference on Indochina,3 claiming that the broadening of participation in a conference does not necessarily create difficulties. He expressed hope that the West would agree to the Soviet proposal on this subject and pressed for specific counter-proposals from the Western Powers. Mr. Gromyko said Western arguments against enlarging the participation in the present conference were not convincing and expressed confidence that a solution which would satisfy everybody could be found. As to participation in a summit meeting, he said that admission of other powers to a foreign ministers’ meeting could not be taken as a precedent for a summit meeting and that the question of participation in such a meeting should be considered separately. He also indicated that he would again raise this question in one of the meetings.

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1338. Secret. Drafted by Alexander Akalovsky, the interpreter, and approved by Herter. The meeting was held at Herter’s residence. A summary of the part of the conversation on Czech and Polish participation was transmitted in Secto 39 from Geneva, May 14 at 10 p.m. (Ibid., Central Files, 396.1–GE/5–1459)↩
  2. A memorandum of this part of the conversation, US/MC/31, is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1338; a summary was transmitted in Secto 40 from Geneva, May 14 at 9 p.m. (Ibid.)↩
  3. See Document 299.↩
  4. Documentation on the Geneva Foreign Ministers Conference on Korea and Indochina, April 26–July 20, 1954, is presented in Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, volume XVI.↩