135. Memorandum of Conversation1
SUBJECT
- Publication of the Penkovsky Papers
PARTICIPANTS
- Ambassador Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, USSR
- Llewellyn E. Thompson, Ambassador-at-Large, Department of State
The Ambassador called at his own request and made the following oral statement:
“Moscow has noted the publication in a number of American newspapers of the so-called ‘Penkovsky Papers’ and a report that these ‘Papers’ are going to be published soon in the USA and in England in the form of a book. Familiarization with the contents of these ‘Papers’leaves no doubt that they are a crude forgery concocted in the spirit of the worst time of the ‘cold war.’ There is attributed to Penkovsky a whole collection of stereotyped, slanderous fabrications about the Soviet Union, its policy and Soviet leaders.
“The authors of this forgery do not even stop before such a monstrous lie as attributing to Soviet leaders the idea of preventive war which has actually been propagated, as is known, by certain circles in the West.
“At the same time when one becomes acquainted with the contents of the ‘Penkovsky Papers’ it becomes completely clear that they are not simply the product of the imagination of some irresponsible journalist. American and English intelligence services whose agent Penkovsky was, as proved in the course of the trial against him in May 1963, lent their efforts to the fabrication of this forgery and to this entire provocational scheme.
“In this connection the publication in the USA of the above-mentioned forgery and intention to publish it as a book cannot be viewed by us other than premeditated action which is in direct contradiction of repeated pronouncements by representatives of the Government of the USA about striving for improvements in Soviet-American relations. The responsibility for the negative consequences of this [Page 341] action for Soviet-American relations, the state of which at present, even without this, leaves much to be desired, will rest on the American side.”
I said I would make no official comment until there had been an opportunity to examine his statement. I said, however, I could tell him on a personal basis and off the record, that when the publication of this series was announced, I inquired of our people and was told that we had nothing to do with the publication of this series. I said I understood that the CIA was asked whether they had any objection to publication and that they had replied that they had considered the matter solely from the security point of view and from this point of view, had no objection to publication.
The Ambassador then asked if he could expect an official reply, and I said I presumed that he could.
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 29 USSR. Confidential. Drafted and initialed by Thompson and approved in S/AL on November 15. A summary of this conversation was transmitted to Moscow in telegram 1260, November 15. (Ibid.)↩