Gromyko, Rusk End ‘Useful’ Talks

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30629, 21 December 1964, Page 13

Gromyko, Rusk End ‘Useful’ Talks

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) NEW YORK, Dec. 20. Mr Dean Rusk, the United States Secretary of State, and Mr Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Foreign Minister, held useful talks in New York yesterday on a wide range of East-West problems, including disarmament and Germany.

Discussions on proposals to break the deadlock over the United Nations’ financial crisis were described by an American spokesman as inconclusive.

Mr Gromyko told reporters after a working luncheon which lasted for about three and a half hours that they had touched on many matters of international interest, as well as bilateral problems concerning the Soviet Union and the United States. Asked if there had been any agreement on the United Nations financial issue, Mr Gromyko replied: “I would not go so far.”

He said the talks on what he termed long-range problems had been useful. A United States spokesman also described the conversation in similar terms.

The spokesman said there had been a brief discussion of the United Nations question where Russia risks loss of its vote in the General Assembly for being more than two years in arrears in its payments to the world body.

The two ministers had dealt mainly with a proposal put forward by Mr Alex Quaison-Sackey, president of the General Assembly, the spokesman said.

This was understood to appeal to all member states to make adequate and substantial contributions to a voluntary fund which would relieve the United Nations of the threat of bankruptcy.

Under such a scheme Russia’s position that the Congo and Middle East peacekeeping operations were illegal would not be compromised. It is Russia’s failure to pay for these operations which has put her in debt. The United States spokesman said he expected U Thant, the Secretary-General to have further meetings with the interested parties.

American sources said that on disarmament the emphasis had been on the setting up

of observation posts, reduction of military budgets and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.