BRITAIN WILLING TO MEET RUSSIA WHEN BLOCKADE ENDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22697, 23 July 1948, Page 5

BRITAIN WILLING TO MEET RUSSIA WHEN BLOCKADE ENDS

(k.Z.P.A. —Iteuter —Copyright.) (11.10a.fn.) ' LONDON, July 22 Britain would be ready to discuss Berlin and other matters with Russia as soon as the technical difficulties which prevented normal communications with the British sector of the city had been removed, said tne Foreign Secretary, Mr. Ernest Bevin today. Meanwhile, Moscow reports say that the chances of a settlement in Berlin have brightened, and in Washington President Truman said the prospects of world peace were excellent.

“WE CANNOT BE COERCED”

Mr. Bevin, who was speaking in the House of Commons, said he was in close touch with the United States and French Governments. Britain’s policy was unchanged. .

Mr. Bevin said: “As Mr. Marshall stated yesterday, ‘we canont ,be coerced.’ ’’ The speaker, Colonel Clifton-Brown, said he would not allow more questions which would only aggravate a difficult situation. Mr. Churchill said the opposition fully supported the Government’s foreign policy but would like information about the military aspect. “We are taking some responsibility In supporting the government, but we have no information,’’ he said. The Prime Minister, Mr. C. A. Attlee, said he might make a statement about the military aspect next week. In Moscow informed diplomatic sources said the chances of a settlement of the Berlin crisis seemed brighter than any time since the break-down of the four-Power meeting on Germany. These observers say the Russians would probably agree to fourPower talks and would, if asked, probably suggest a number of subjects for discussion. Though the western Allies have not yet approached Russia, some observers in Moscow are so convinced there will 'be a four-Power meeting that they are already discussing where it will be held. Some of them tip Washington. In Washington today. President Truman said the chances for world peace were excellent. He said he fully endorsed the declaration of the Secretary of State, Mr. G. Marshall, yesterday •that the United States intended to exhaust every resource of diplomacy to achieve a peaceful solution of the Berlin crisis. Replying to a suggestion to hold a fcur-Power conference, he said the Foreign Minister’s Council still existed. No self-respecting Government would confer when pressure, such as in Berlin, was being used to force a decision. He added that in such conditions the normal relations existing between the Allies during the war could not function. "As soon as the agreements rights of the British occupation force in Berlin are re-established so that neither I nor any other member of the Government will be meeting under duress to discuss these matters then I am open to discuss any matter with Russia,” he

said- “Nothing.’can stop immediate dis- . cyssions on free access of our troops ,o and the people we have undertaken to } feed.” The draft Note of the British. American and French reply to the Soviet refusal to lift the Berlin blockade is practically complete and its dispatch to Moscow will not be long delayed, says Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent. Britain and the United States, however, may wait to obtain the approval of the new French Government when it is formed.

It is generally expected that the Note will be firmly worded but will express willingness for four-Power discussions on Germany provided there are assurances of an open-minded approach. The western Powers will make it clear that they will not be coerced but are prepared to use ail available resources to reach an acceptable settlement. The full Cabinet met this morning when Mr. Ernest Bevin was given an opportunity of reporting on the Berlin crisis.

The Russians’ announcement that, in addition to undertaking to feed the whole of Berlin, they will shortly provide electricity and raw materials for the western sectors is regarded as a further step in the Soviet plan to un-

dermine the position of the western Allies, in Berlin, says the Daily Telegraph’s correspondent in Berlin. The Russians, he points out, have the lai-gest and most modern generating plant in Berlin, at Klingenbcrg, and the main Berlin electrical control station is also in the Russian sector. Coal can be brought from Silesia. Polish coal ordered by the western Allies will almost certainly be diverted to the Soviet generating stations, the correspondent adds. He also points out that, although most Berliners distrust and fear the Russians, the offer of electric power and raw materials cannot have failed to have its effect on thousands of western Berliners thrown out of work by the Russian blockade and for whom the alternative will be the manual labour projects, including rubble clearance offered by the western commandants. The German Economic Commission for the Russian zone of Germany announced that Marshal Sokolovsky agreed in principle to the proposals that the Soviet sector should supply electric power to one large plant in the British sector of Berlin. The British United Press correspondent, in Berlin says that thousands of Berliners are idle because of the electric power cuts.