Macmillan Would Have Preferred Summit Talks

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28660, 9 August 1958, Page 13

Macmillan Would Have Preferred Summit Talks

(Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 7. c The British Prime Minister* (Mr Macmillan) tonight told the P Soviet Prime Minister (Mr c > Khrushchev) that he accepted a r special United Nations General s Assembly meeting on the Middle t East, but thought more progress t would have been made at a sum- t mit meeting of the Security t Council. c In his latest letter to. Mr Khrushchev. Mr Macmillan ex- e pressed regret that the Soviet t Prime Minister had “withdrawn 0 agreement” to a summit meeting of the Security Council. L This agreement, he said, Mr ° Khrushchev had very clearly set c out in a letter to him on July 23. Mr Macmillan quoted a passage a from Mr Khrushchev's letter of r July 23. which said: “Considering the need for taking urgent decis- r ions in the interests of maintain- t ing peace, the Soviet Government e considers that the form of meeting a of the neads of government in a these circumstances cannot have any decisive significance. ‘‘We share your views about the r approach to a discussion of this a question at a special meeting of 11 the Security Council With heads c ■

oi government participating.” In his 400-word letter Mr Macmillan said Mr Khrushchev now proposed a special meeting of the General Assembly'. This the United States had already proposed on July 18. but action had been suspended because of Mr Khrushchev’s, view that the. matter should fee discussed at the summit. “A special session of the General Assembly would be accepttable to the British Government.” Mr Macmillan wrote. Mr Macmillan said he failed to understand Mr Khrushchev’s suggestion. in his last letter of Tuesday. that the next move was with him. “On the contrary, it is I who am awaiting from you an answer to my letter of July 1,” he said. In his letter of July 1, Mr Macmillan reminded Mr Khrushchev that he had had no reply to Western suggestions made on May 31 about drawing up an agenda for a summit meeting. Mr Macmillan ended today’s letter by saying: “I have always made it abundantly clear that I am anxious for such a meeting under conditions which are acceptable to all of us.” A