7. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy 0
SUBJECT
- Instructions for Governor Stevenson for his Talks with Gromyko on the Question of Timing of Future Substantive Negotiations on Disarmament and the Forum in which such Negotiations Would Take Place
During this past weekend we have developed, in concert with Governor Stevenson, the attached cable for your approval on the above subject.1 If you approve the instructions, Governor Stevenson would see Gromyko and propose: (a) that disarmament negotiations be resumed on or before August 1, 1961, in Geneva; and (b) that the forum for such talks be the 10-Nation group, augmented by either two or three officers from the smaller powers. If agreement is reached on the foregoing with the USSR, this would be incorporated in a resolution to be submitted to the resumed session of the General Assembly. In his discussions with Gromyko, Governor Stevenson would also indicate our willingness to have bilateral substantive talks with the Soviets in early summer prior to the opening of negotiations in the more formal 10-Nation group, as augmented.
Mr. McCloy has approved the attached instructions. We have discussed the general lines of this cable with Mr. Bundy, who has seen a preliminary draft. We have also consulted with Mr. Nitze, who has made several suggestions which have been incorporated in the draft instruction, but in light of the need for urgent instructions, it has not been possible for him to discuss the attached cable either with the Secretary of Defense or with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Nitze regrets, as I do, that we are having to deal with this essentially tactical matter before knowing more concretely where we wish to go on the substantive aspects of the U.S. position on disarmament. This underscores the need for early decisions on our substantive position in light of studies which are now in process.