309. Editorial Note
On July 2, 1963, Soviet Chairman Khrushchev spoke on the test ban question in East Berlin. After emphasizing the Soviet preference for a comprehensive agreement without inspections, he stated that “since the Western Powers are impeding the conclusion of an agreement on the cessation of all nuclear tests, the Soviet Government expresses its readiness to include an agreement on the cessation of nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water.” Later in the speech, Khrushchev stated “that it would be advisable straightaway, when an agreement on the cessation of nuclear tests is concluded, to take also another big step towards the relaxation of international tension and the strengthening of confidence between states, namely, the conclusion of a non-aggression pact between the two main military groupings of [Page 763] states—the NATO countries and the countries parties to the Warsaw Treaty.” He noted that an agreement on the cessation of nuclear weapon tests, “together with the simultaneous signing of a non-aggression pact between those two groupings of States, will create a new international atmosphere more favorable to the solution of the most important problems of the modern world, including the problem of disarmament.” For text of this speech, see Documents on Disarmament, 1963, pages 244-246.
At 5:15 p.m. on July 2 in Washington, Kaysen telephoned Harriman, who said he “looked on” a summary he had of Khrushchev’s speech as “mighty interesting and that he had [not?] said this before.” Harriman also asked “if it looked pretty good. Kaysen said it looks like something to me. There is a lot about the German Peace Treaty.” In a telephone conversation with syndicated columnist Joseph Alsop at 1:20 p.m. on July 3, Harriman stated that the Soviets “never agreed to testing in this manner before. We have proposed it—the three elements, three environments. The question is whether he ties that in definitely to Warsaw-NATO agreement. It isn’t clear whether he ties [them?] together or whether he thinks they should be one after another.” (Both memoranda of conversation in Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Box 581, June-July Telephone Conversations)
On July 3, the President held two meetings at the White House with senior officials including McNamara, Ball, Harriman, Foster, Bundy, and Kaysen. Rusk was at the second meeting, held at 4:10 p.m., but not at the first, apparently held some time between 9 and 11 a.m. Kaysen’s handwritten notes of the meetings indicate that the President was searching for some means of seeing whether the United States could meet the Soviet desire for a non-aggression pact without jeopardizing the Western position in Berlin and without antagonizing Chancellor Adenauer and President de Gaulle. Kennedy in the 4 p.m. meeting pointed out the difficulty of getting de Gaulle involved in the test ban, given his “natural” opposition to any U.S. initiative, and wondered how to make him “a larger figure in this matter.”
At both meetings, Harriman spoke of the difficulty of having frank discussions in Moscow if the French joined the talks. With Adenauer, the major issue was the non-aggression pact. Kennedy is reported as saying at the second meeting that “we don’t mind, poor grounds for refusing it, how do we convince Germans.” The President decided that he should write Adenauer and “reserve position,” apparently on the non-aggression pact, and that Rusk should write Foreign Minister Gerhard Schroeder. Regarding France, the resolution of the meetings was less clear, seeming to depend on soundings to be taken by Ambassador Bohlen over the next few days. (Both memoranda of conversation in Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Kaysen Series, Harriman Instructions) [Page 764] For Kennedy’s letter to Adenauer, see Document 310; for Rusk’s letter to Schroeder, see Document 311.