TALKS CONTINUE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 299, 19 December 1945, Page 5

TALKS CONTINUE

BIG THREE IN MOSCOW ATMOSPHERE SAID TO BE CORDIAL Recd. 11 p.m. London, Dec. 18. Reports from Moscow state that the Foreign Ministers of Britain (Mr. Ernest Bevin), United States (Mr. J. F. Byrnes) and Soviet Russia (Mr. Molotov) continued in an atmosphere of cordiality. Mr. Molotov presided. The second meeting was held yesterday and lasted 135 minutes. No statement was made.

The “Daily Telegraph” says the situation in Persia is believed to be engaging the Ministers’ immediate attention. He added that official observers in Moscow describe the atmosphere of the conferences as cordial. Mr. Molotov has been invited to become airman of the meetings. Another report says that, the conference has decided on a programme with the matters to be discussed listed in order of importance.

SUCCESS IMPERATIVE

LONDON VIEW OF MEETING London, Dec. 17. "Fateful," “Eleventh Hour attempt,” and “An Essential Prologue to the General Assembly of the United Nations" are descriptions given here to the meeting of the three Foreign Ministers in Moscow. It is thought that the prospects of the United Nations Organisation will be practically decided by the way in which the conference develops. If the three Ministers are unable to find common ground for a workable understanding before the General Assembly of U.N.W.O. meets their dissensions will wreck the new organisation almost before it is launched. But because of the general realisation of the need for agreement the outlook is not unpromising, although the difficulties are real and stubborn.

Little news of the progress of the Moscow talks is likely to be given until a definite stage has been reached. Censorship has been reimposed by the Russians, so that the veil of secrecy will be as heavy as that which hung over the Potsdam Conference. Whether this censorship is a temporary measure to cover the period of the conference or a more general recision of the policy of relaxation introduced last month is not yet clear. It may be a precaution against "leakages.” HARD QUESTIONS FIRST.

It is thought that the three Foreign Ministers will first discuss those questions which are the immediate cause of the mistrust and lack of co-opera-tion which have characterised the relations between Russia and the West since the breakdown of the London Conference. The most troublesome among these problems is the American insistence on retaining full control in Japan notwithstanding the persistent Russian demand for a control commission similar in status and power to those established in the former States in Europe. This disagreement over Japan has seriously aggravated the SovietAmerican rivalry on the Chinese mainland. In the past the Americans have pointed to the un-co-operative attitude of the Russians in north China and Korea and have become more adamant in refusing to accept joint control in Japan. This, in turn, has encouraged a more unaccommodating attitude on the part of the Russians.