DISARMAMENT TALKS AT GENEVA

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29245, 1 July 1960, Page 11

DISARMAMENT TALKS AT GENEVA

Macmillan Asks Russia To Reconsider Walk-Out r (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8 pjn.) LONDON, June 29. The British Prime Minister today asked Mr Khrushchev to reconsider the Soviet Union’s decision to withdraw from the Geneva 10-power disarmament conference. In. a letter delivered at the Moscow Foreign Ministry today, Mr Macmillan said he hoped Russia would reconsider “so that negotiations on disarmament can be restarted as soon as possible.” The letter replied to Mr Khrushchev’s letter of Monday which was handed over to Mr Macmillan within a few hours of the walkout from the conference.

Mr Macmillan, in his reply, said: “I must tell you frankly that I am deeply disappointed, as well as surprised, at your decision to withdraw from the negotiations. “The Geneva conference was set-up as a result of an agreement between the four Foreign Ministers last August: it cannot be properly broken off by any one group.” He concluded his 1000-word letter by saying: “I hope you will reconsider your decision in the light of the views I am now expressing so that negotiations on disarmament can be restarted as soon as possible.” Referring to criticisms by Mr Khrushchev of the recent visit of the British Defence Minister (Mr Watkinson) to the United States. Mr Macmillan said: “Until agreement on disarmament is reached we intend to maintain our collective defence arrangements.- There is nothing provocative In this, you do the same. Mr Khrushchev’s letter explaining Russia’s decision to withdraw from the “barren” talks in Geneva, accused the West of trying to “dupe” people anxious for the disarmament problem to be solved.

The West, he said, had “virtually evaded” examination of specific disarmament proposals, which had been “systematically rejected” and “drowned in futile discussions.”

Mr Macmillan said he thought the whole world “would be deeply disappointed” that the Geneva conference . . could not proceed with its work because of Soviet unwillingness to take part in it. Referring to Mr Khrushchev’s criticisms of the attitude of the Western delegates, Mr Macmillan said: “Even if these criticisms were warranted, it would not, in my view, justify your action in breaking off the Geneva talks. I cannot emphasise too strongly that we want to reach an agreement on disarmament,” Mr Macmillan said.

“We, for our part, do not agree with many of the points which your delegate has put forward at Geneva, as you do not agree with ours. But the whole purpose of negotiations is to try to eliminate points of difference and find common ground. It seemed to us that some progress was being made.” he said.

“And it was well known that the Western delegates hoped soon to put new proposals to conference. Yet at this very moment you chose to break off the negotiations as if you did not want to know what we were going. to propose. Frankly. I find this incomprehensible,” Mr Macmillan said.

He told Mr Khrushchev it was “most unfair” of him to describe the plan which the Western delegates put forward at the conference on March 15 as only to “legalised military espipnage.’ 1 Mr Macmillan said Mr Khrushchev had claimed the revised Soviet plan of June 7 included features which took account of Western views. “This surely proves that neither our original plan nor the conference meetings could have been as sterile as you now suggest.” He said that the revised Soviet plan had been under discussion for not quite three weeks when “you broke off before giving us the chance, in our turn, to make fresh proposals to you, which would take into account your new proposals, even though it was known to your delegate that we were about to do so.”

Mr Khrushchev last Monday also sent letters about the Soviet walk-out at Geneva to. the heads of Government of the United States, France, Canada and Italy An authoritative source said in London today he expected that the Canadian and Italian replies would be delivered in Moscow tomorrow. It was anounced in Moscow that the Soviet Government has sent a Note on disarmament to “the Governments of all countries.”

Tass said the Soviet Foreign Minister (Mr Gromyko) has also sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Mr Hammarskjold) a letter asking that disarmament and the situation which arose in connexion with the implementation of the General Assembly’s resolution of November 20, 1959, be included as urgent matter in the agenda of the next regular session of the General Assembly. In London the British Foreign Secretary (Mr Lloyd) said today the convening of the United Nations Disarmament Commission was one possible way in which East-West negotiations could be resumed. Three other possibilities were by convening the Security Council, an emergency session of the General Assembly, or by restarting the Disarmament Conference itself. Mr Lloyd, answering questions in the House of Commons, said all these methods were under study. He said it was “very much hoped” that what happened in Geneva on Monday was not going to be a precedent for the question of nuclear tests. Speaking of the nuclear conference he said: “I think there we are far nearer agreement and I very much hope both sides will persevere and get the agreement which I think can be got.”