IMPASSE CAUSES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22314, 26 April 1947, Page 5

IMPASSE CAUSES

EAST-WEST GULF REPARATIONS ISSUE CLEAVAGE MAY WIDEN .'(10 a.m.) LONDON, April 25. London political observers predict a hardening of East-West division of Germany following the ending of the most disappointing Foreign Ministers’ conference since the first session in the autumn of 1945, says Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent. . The conference failed to reach an . agreement on Germany’s economic . unity and political future, reparations, the participation of the smaller Allies in negotiating the German treaty, a four-Power pact against German aggression and the majority of points in the Austrian treaty draft. In addition there is a hitch in the negotiations for a revised AngloRussian alliance The sole important success of the 45-day conference was the AngloAmerican agreement with France on Ruhr coal. Confidence Broken 3 The correspondent adds that the ■j point of fatal disagreement dates from the conference’s denial of Russian reparations claims, Anglo-American failure to achieve economic unity and France's failure to secure her coal claims on Germany as a whole. The failure to break these deadlocks broke the conference. The Times correspondent in Moscow considers that the Foreign Ministers did not part with a sense of impending disaster, or believing that their disagreements are ..final. Probably all believe that by a gradual process, they will work their way nearer together, either at the next conference or one later—a dismal enough prospect but the best that presents itself at the moment. The Ministers fortunately have not glossed over the difficulties or made apparently reassuring statements. Hopes of Eventual Agreement ■ The Foreign Ministers are parting in the hope that the position in Germany may be held more or less as now until an eventual firm agreement is reached. This, perhaps, is not a very strong hope. There is a danger that the divergencies, will widen and that the Germans will try to play off one side against another even if the Allies themselves do not develop their hold on zones. The correspondent says there was far more than an ideological clash at the conference. The Ministers came to Moscow of different worlds, with contrasted ways of thought and expression and different standards and ways of bargaining For example, it was often hard to tell with M. Molotov where the traditional and almost instinctive Russian methods of diplomacy ends and the firm Marxist conviction begins. They are inseparably combined, making him delay any concession until the very last minute and often making him suspect the worst in Western proposals. The Moscow radio quoted M Molotov afteq- the conference as saying: “Our work is not finished but no mean amount has been accomplished. We have done a substantial amount of preliminary work.” Banquet at Kremlin i Marshal Stalin invited the 10 leading members from each of the Big Four delegations to a farewell banquet at the Kremlin last night. Mr. Ernest Bevin and the British delegation will leave Moscow this evening by special train. Tt is understood that serious difficulties have been encountered in negotiations for the revision of the AngloSoviet treaty. The Foreign Ministers, before ending the conference, adopted a Russian resolution creating a Russian, American, British and French commission to consider the points of the Austrian treaty on which no agreement has been reached. The commission will meet in .Vienna at an unspecified date. The Foreign Ministers also agreed to

hold a short session in New York 3 during the United Nations General Assembly meeting early in the autumn if all the Foreign Ministers are there then. It was also decided that the deputies on Germany should continue their work in London or Berlin, and also that the Allied Control Council in Berlin should, by June 1, report on the proposed programme for reducing the occupation forces by September 1, Agreement in “Reasonable Time” Mr. Marshall told correspondents that - though he was disappointed at the lack - of progressive thought, there was a fair >r chance of agreement “in a reasonable

time. , . . j '•'< Mr. Bevin failed in a last-minute effort to secure Russian agreement to his proposal for returning Austrian prisoners of war to Austria before the Austrian treaty is completed. The Ministers adopted a resolution Instructing the Allied Control Council In Berlin to assess what should be the strength of the Russian, British, American and French forces in Germany on September 1, 1947. Mf. Bevin said he could not agree to reduce the British forces in Germany to under 145,000 men. He thought the United States should have an equal number. . M Molotov 'suggested that Russia should have 200,000 troops in Germany, Britain 100,000, America 100,000, and France 50,000. , Mr Bevin said that Britain did not sntirely reject Russia’s proposals for Herman reparations from current proluction, but wanted to settle first ihings first,” namely, Germany's econonic unity, the political constitution and :he repayment of the money that Britain had poured into Germany. The occupying Powers would probibly be able to carry out a more conitructive programme in their zones as a result of the clarification of the Big Pour's views. ~ .. ~ Britin, in future, would consider the riews of the other nations and probibly the demands of the peace treaty. He thought that Russia had made a nistake in trying to put too much into he first effort to formulate a four’ower treaty for German disarmanent.