Office of the Historian

475. Memorandum of Conversation0

US/MC/143
Geneva, July 24, 1959, 11 a.m.

MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, 1959

PARTICIPANTS

  • United States
    • Mr. Merchant
    • Mr. Reinhardt
    • Mr. Berding
    • Mr. Becker
    • Admiral Dudley
    • Mr. Hillenbrand
  • FRG
    • Ambassador Grewe
    • Mr. Duckwitz
    • Mr. Fechter
    • Mr. Oncken
    • Mr. von Hase
  • United Kingdom
    • Sir Anthony Rumbold
    • Ambassador Reilly
    • Mr. Ledwidge
    • Mr. Drinkall
    • Mr. Freeland
  • France
    • M. Lucet
    • M. Laloy
    • M. Froment-Meurice
    • M. Baraduc
    • M. Beaumarchais
[Page 1048]

SUBJECT

  • Meeting of the Coordinating Group

The following were the principal points made at today’s meeting of the Coordinating Group:

1.
Ambassador Grewe reported on Von Brentano’s talk with Gromyko last night. The atmosphere was friendly and not as gloomy as the Germans had expected. Throughout, Gromyko was temperate in tone and manner. The conversations produced nothing concrete affecting the progress of the Conference. Gromyko put considerable stress on the Soviet desire to pursue disarmament talks. He asked Von Brentano to put pressure on the Allies to resume these talks. He came back to this point several times, stressing that it was the fault of the Western powers that the talks were not going on. As far as the Geneva Conference itself was concerned, the arguments made were pretty much along conventional lines. Zorin took Ambassador Kroll aside at one point and made some obscure and mysterious remarks about how the West Germans would soon regret the policy they were pursuing. They would soon see how the Federal Republic would be completely isolated.
2.
After considerable discussion, it was the consensus that, at this afternoon’s private meeting, the Western Ministers should continue to pursue the all-German question, stressing the constructive features in their July 201 proposal and the unacceptable features of the all-German committee. However, there would be little point in merely repeating the same arguments made at the Plenary Session unless these seemed pertinent. The Western Ministers should try to make some progress in getting Gromyko to abandon the link between the all-German question and the Berlin question. It would be desirable to avoid getting into any substantive discussion on Berlin today.
3.
The French Delegation would prepare the report to NAC2 for dispatch tonight and distribution in Paris tomorrow. M. Lucet indicated that the French Delegation hoped to have draft copies available for distribution to other delegations later today.

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1341. Secret. Drafted by Hillenbrand and concurred in by Merchant. The meeting was held at Les Ormeaux.↩
  2. Regarding this proposal, see footnote 1, Document 465.↩
  3. Transmitted in Secto 392 from Geneva, July 25. (Department of State, Central Files, 396.1–GE/7–2559)↩