Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Berlin Crisis, 1958–1959, Volume VIII

334. Delegation Record of Meeting⁰

Geneva, May 26, 1959, 9:30 a.m.

FULL DELEGATION MEETING

Conference Tactics

1. Mr. Merchant said that the Secretary is the only one of the four Western Foreign Ministers who will make a statement today. He added that it is considered important to get this statement, which is on Berlin, on the record before the recess.

Gromyko’s Wish to Travel on the Secretary’s Plane

2. The Secretary noted that Gromyko, after refusing our offer of one seat on the Secretary’s plane for the trip to Washington, is trying to get his own accommodations to Washington to attend Secretary Dulles’ funeral. The Secretary said it was important for the press to understand that we had offered Gromyko one seat on the plane on the same basis as the other Foreign Ministers. Ambassador Thompson thought that our handling the matter in the press should be such as to avoid any possibility that it might be built up as an aspect of the cold war.

Khrushchev’s Charges of Western Buildup in Berlin

3. Ambassador Thompson called attention to a telegram from Bonn¹ reporting a conversation between the German Ambassador in Moscow and Khrushchev in which Khrushchev claimed that we had violated the understanding not to change the status quo in Berlin during the present negotiations by sending new tanks and mines into Berlin. Secretary McElroy explained that this was part of the deliberate effort on our part during the Berlin crisis to take military measures which, while they would not alarm the general public, would be detectable by the Russians. The Secretary asked that the military keep us closely informed about developments in this matter. Mr. Smith said we should be careful not to give the impression that we are arbitrarily changing the status quo on Berlin. He added that we should be ready to offer evidence of Soviet military preparations in Berlin and East Germany.

Soviet Missiles in East Germany

4. The Secretary asked whether there had been any confirmation of a report that atomic capable missiles were being taken into East Germany. Mr. Bundy said that there had been no positive confirmation, although it was believed that other types of missiles had been introduced. Secretary McElroy said that there had been no observation of sites of ground-to-ground missiles in the DDR. Mr. Bundy agreed but pointed out that there had been sightings of covered equipment on flat cars with profiles similar to those of missiles paraded in Moscow. It was therefore thought likely that such missiles are in the DDR. Mr. Sullivan commented that Oncken of the West German delegation yesterday told him that there was atomic capable artillery in East Germany.

Press Matters

5. Mr. Berding said that there was much press interest in the figures the Secretary yesterday presented on the military strength of East Germany. Mr. Berding said that he had circulated to the press here copies of the Department’s statement reacting to the Soviet note on atomic armaments in NATO countries.² Mr. Berding, in reply to the Secretary, said he understood that the statement was to serve in lieu of a reply to the Soviet note.

Hammarskjold’s Meeting with the President

6. Mr. Wilcox suggested that the Secretary speak to Mr. Dillon about Hammarskjold’s remark on Berlin at his breakfast with the President last Friday.³ The Secretary observed that the report of this talk indicated that Hammarskjold had repeated points he had made to the Secretary,⁴ namely, that Khrushchev is flexible on Berlin but concerned about bolstering the DDR.

[Here follow paragraphs 7–9 on unrelated subjects.]

High Altitude Flights in Berlin Corridor

10. The Secretary noted that we had agreed here that our reply to the Soviet note of April 29⁵ on high altitude flights in the Berlin corridor should contain no indication of our willingness to take the case to the International Court of Justice.

0. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1358. Secret. The meeting was held in Conference Room 209 of the Consulate General Annex.
1. Telegram 2650 from Bonn, May 25. (Ibid., Central Files, 396.1–GE/5–2559)
2. For text of this May 25 statement and the Soviet note of May 23, see Documents on Disarmament, 1945–1959, vol. II, pp. 1420–1422, or Department of State Bulletin, June 15, 1959, pp. 866–867.
3. See Document 326.
4. See footnote 3, Document 269.
5. See footnote 5, Document 324.