Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIV, Soviet Union

315. Memorandum of Conversation¹

Washington, November 12, 1968.

SUBJECT

• Luncheon Meeting between Ambassadors Thompson and Dobrynin

PARTICIPANTS

• Llewellyn E. Thompson, American Ambassador, Moscow
• Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador, US

At luncheon today Ambassador Dobrynin asked me what I thought could or should happen in Soviet–American relations during the period from the present time until the inauguration of the new administration.² He asked whether we would simply have to mark time or whether there were some problems on which progress could be made.

I referred to the public statements by the President and the President–Elect following their meeting yesterday³ but said I had no information other than that which had appeared in the press. I felt sure that if possible we should try to make progress on such international problems as the Middle East and, of course, Viet–Nam. In connection with the latter problem I mentioned the reports of violations of the DMZ and said I trusted his government realized how serious these developments were.

Ambassador Dobrynin said that he was quite sure that the North Vietnamese did not intend to break down the agreement.

The Ambassador raised the question of the NPT and referred to the statement by Senator Mansfield that he might bring this up with the new Congress as soon as it was convened. I said I did not know what the thinking about timing was but I felt sure that we would, in due course, proceed with the ratification of the agreement.

The Ambassador also raised the question of missile talks. I referred to reports of Mr. McNamara’s discussions in Moscow. I said that again I was not aware what decisions, if any, might have been taken here. I agreed when the Ambassador remarked that the ball was in our court, and said I assumed that Mr. Nixon had discussed this with President Johnson, but did not know what had transpired.

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt Rostow, Vol. 105. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Thompson and approved in S/S on November 13. Rostow forwarded the memorandum to the President under a November 14 covering note. (Ibid.) The memorandum is part 1 of 3. Part 2 is Document 316. In part 3 Dobrynin indicated that he anticipated returning shortly to Moscow for consultations but did not expect to remain long as Ambassador after the new administration took over. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—Walt Rostow, Vol. 105)
2. Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election on November 5.
3. For text of their public statements, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968, Book II, pp. 1119–1120. A record of their meeting, during which they discussed the transition and reviewed major foreign policy issues, is at the Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. Also attending were Rusk, Clifford, Wheeler, Helms, Rostow, and Tom Johnson. According to the record of the meeting, the possibility of a U.S.–U.S.S.R. summit meeting was not discussed.