Allies Urged' To Sign Peace With Germany If Russia Hedges

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22940, 7 May 1949, Page 5

Allies Urged' To Sign Peace With Germany If Russia Hedges

(it) a.m.) NEW YORK, May 6. A separate peace treaty should be signed with West Germany if Russia again tried to prevent an agreement on German problems, said the former Secretary of State, Mr. James F. Byrnes. ■ ~ , „ He said the United States should tell Russians that if they hedge during the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, it will be the last meeting. “We should proceed immediately to call a peace conference,” he said. "We should invite the nations that participated in the war against Germany to

attend. We should draft a peace treaty with the Government of West Germany. “Russia should be invited to the peace conference. Whether they attend or not, they should be urged to ratify the treaty. If they agree, it will be fortunate.” Such a settlement, Mr. Byrnes said, would not mean the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Germany. “If Russia refuses to ratify the peace treaty and retains a large military force in East Germany, the Western Powers will have to keep an armed force in Germany sufficient for the enforcement of the treaty and the protection of the new West German Republic. We cannot disarm them and desert them.” Mr. Byrnes stated that a cautious eye must be kept on Russia’s reasons for lifting the Berlin blockade. “There is a real danger that in the rejoicing over the lifting of the blockade, we may be misled into expecting too much from the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers. We may be misled into making t.po many concessions,’ ’he added.