Office of the Historian

236. Message From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the Ambassador to Germany (Rush)1

Washington, May 11, 1971.

For the time being, the President desires that there be no private meetings with Falin and that you cool matters with Bahr. Adoption of this tactic is due to circumstances not related to the Berlin issue. It is important that in cooling things you do so in such a way that the obstacles appear technical at your end rather than a result of instructions from here.2

Warm regards.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 59, Country Files, Europe, Ambassador Rush, Berlin, Vol. 1. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The message was sent through the special Navy channel in Frankfurt; no time of transmission or receipt appears on the message.↩
  2. In his memoirs, Kissinger explained that he instructed Rush to postpone his May 19 meeting with Bahr and Falin “as a response to Semenov’s conduct in circumventing the [Presidential] Channel during the SALT talks.” (White House Years, p. 829) See Document 233.↩