West Still Split On Berlin Crisis

Press, Volume C, Issue 29651, 23 October 1961, Page 11

West Still Split On Berlin Crisis

(A.Z. Press Association— Copyright) WASHINGTON, October 22. The United States Ambassador to Moscow, Mr Llewellyn Thompson, will leave for Moscow later today without any clear instructions for informal discussions with the Russians on Berlin.

This lack of instruction was the result of continuing sharp division between the Western allies on Berlin strategy, the Associated Press’s chief Washington correspondent said today. Mr Thompson conferred with the Secretary of State (Mr Rusk) and other United States policy makers yesterday in the latest of a series of meetings which began two weeks ago when he came from Moscow. The consultations were supposed to have lasted only a week. President Kennedy and Mr Rusk had hoped that Mr Thompson would be able at this stage of the Berlin crisis to give the Soviet Prime Minister (Mr Khrushchev) and bis Foreign Minister (Mr .Gromyko) at least general indications of: A formula for Berlin negotiations acceptable for the West. Some word on what issues the Allied Governments considered negotiable. French Veto Allied positions on these issues were to have been worked out in a conference of senior Foreign Office officials in London beginning last week. France in effect vetoed that meeting because President de Gaulle reportedly considered the time not yet right for making decisions, the A.P. correspondent said. The United States and Britain made an effort to fill in the gap by going on with talks in Washington among representatives of the British. French and West German Embassies and the State Department. These failed to produce agreement on new instructions for Mr Thompson. The decisions on the next round of Allied strategy evidently could not be made now until the West German Chancellor (Dr. Adenauer) came to 4 Washington early next month after the reorganisation of his Government But United States and British leaders considered it vitally important that diplomatic contacts be maintained It was expected that Mr Thompson would at least see Mr Gromyko. Officials noted that Mr Thompson had a little leeway in time because Mr Khrushchev and other Soviet leaden

were deeply involved in the current Communist Party meeting and in the splits within their own ranks. Therefore they might be quite happy to let the Berlin dispute simmer for another week or two. United States officials found some slight encouragement jn the party speeches for their hope that Mr Khrushchev would in the long run want a peaceful solution to the Berlin crisis, the correspondent said. Officials believed President Kennedy had succeeded in forming through his military build-up, an understanding that if Mr Khrushchev tried to force the Western Powers out of West Berlin he would plunge the world into war.