173. Disto 1129 from Geneva, March 11
RE Fisher-Foster telcon March 1. Following is text of portion of statement made today by Foster in plenary dealing with Dean-Kuznetsov conversations in NY:
“The Soviet delegation has alleged in presenting its position on on-site inspection that Ambassador Arthur H. Dean suggested as acceptable two to four on-site inspections annually at some point during informal discussions with Minister Kuznetsov in New York last autumn. This is not the case. Here is the record.
“On October 30, Ambassador Dean, accompanied by Mr Akalovsky of the US delegation, called on Minister Kuznetsov in New York. The conversation centered primarily on current General Assembly matters, and the test ban problem was discussed briefly and only in general terms. Minister Kuznetsov reaffirmed the position held by the Soviet Union at that time, denying the need for on-site inspection and stating that such inspection was unacceptable to the Soviet Union. Ambassador Dean stressed the US desire to engage in serious negotiations on a test ban. He further expressed the view that some mutually satisfactory arrangement to cover cessation of testing in all environments, while providing assurances against clandestine tests underground, should be possible. In this connection he said that the United States had in mind a small number of on-site inspections but did not mention any specific figure. Thus, the Soviet claim that Ambassador Dean offered two to four inspections on October 30 is inaccurate.
“They met next on November 7, at Minister Kuznetsov’s [Facsimile Page 2] initiative at the Soviet mission in New York. Again Ambassador Dean was accompanied by Mr. Akalovsky. Reading from a prepared text and stating that he was acting on instructions, Minister Kuznetsov reviewed the Soviet position on the test ban—a position which still excluded any on-site inspection on USSR territory.
“Ambassador Dean re-emphasized the US position that on-site inspections were necessary and that their number was related to the number of unidentified events. He also said that because of the progress achieved under the Vela Research program, the United States might [Typeset Page 469] be prepared to accept something like eight to ten on-site inspections, and eight to ten nationally manned control posts under international supervision. Ambassador Dean observed that ninety percent of the territory of the Soviet Union was aseismic and suggested the possibility of subdividing Soviet territory into seismic and aseismic areas. He remarked that U.S. scientists believed that if two control posts were located in the aseismic portion of the heartland of the Soviet Union, and eight in the seismic areas, only very few inspections might be required in the aseismic areas.
“After the meeting Mr. Timerbaev, a member of the Soviet mission who also attended the meeting, approached Mr. Akalovsky to check Ambassador Dean’s remarks about the number of nationally manned stations and on-site inspections. Mr. Akalovsky referred Mr. Timerbaev to what Ambassador Dean had said, with Mr. Timerbaev repeating the number eight to ten on-site inspections and Mr. Akalovsky confirming the accuracy of his account.
“Consequently, there are no grounds for doubt as to the numbers mentioned by Ambassador Dean, and this makes subsequent claims by Soviet representatives that, on the 30th of October Ambassador Dean had in fact mentioned the two to four figure, quite surprising. Both United States participants in these meetings confirm the facts which I have just given you.
“Nevertheless, it is of course possible that there might have been some misunderstanding, if this was the case we deeply regret it. But from the text of President Kennedy’s letter to [Facsimile Page 3] Chairman Khrushchev of December 28, 1962, there could have been no misunderstanding that eight to ten on-site inspections was the US position.”
- Partial text of Foster statement on Dean–Kuznetsov conversations. Official Use Only. 3 pp. Department of State, Central Files, DEF 18–3 SWITZ (GE).↩