No. 698
Editorial Note
In pursuit of the course struck by Secretary Dulles in his conversation with Foreign Minister Gudmundsson at Paris (see the memorandum of conversation, supra), Minister Lawson submitted to the Icelandic Government a note, dated December 22, proposing discussions between a team of representatives from the Departments of State and Defense and representatives of the Icelandic Government for the purpose of solving the problems, specified in the Icelandic note of December 4, of implementing the 1951 base agreement. (740B.5/12–2353) Negotiations between the United States team and the Icelandic representatives began in Reykjavik on February 2, 1954. By March 5, the mission of the United States team, which was to conduct technical discussions on the questions raised in the Icelandic note of December 4, was complete, and the team returned to the United States. Negotiations over the outstanding political issues continued between Lawson and Gudmundsson. In late March, the Icelandic Government presented a draft set of understandings which Lawson transmitted to the Department of State in despatch 262, March 29. (740B.5/3–2954) For a summary of the primary issues under consideration at this stage in the negotiations, see the memorandum by Bonbright, infra.