Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Germany and Austria, Volume VII, Part 1

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 197

No. 525
Final Communiqué of the Berlin Conference¹

confidential
FPM(54)86

Berlin, February 18, 1954.

A meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, Mr. John Foster Dulles, M. Georges Bidault, Mr. Anthony Eden and M. Vyacheslav Molotov, took place in Berlin between January 25 and February 18, 1954. They reached the following agreements:

(a)

The Foreign Ministers of the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting in Berlin,

Considering that the establishment, by peaceful means, of a united and independent Korea would be an important factor in reducing international tension and in restoring peace in other parts of Asia,

Propose that a conference of representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Chinese People’s Republic, the Republic of Korea, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea and the other countries the armed forces of which participated in the hostilities in Korea, and which desire to attend, shall meet in Geneva on April 26th for the purpose of reaching a peaceful settlement of the Korean question;

Agree that the problem of restoring peace in Indo-China will also be discussed at the conference, to which representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Chinese People’s Republic and other interested states will be invited.

It is understood that neither the invitation to, nor the holding of, the above-mentioned Conference shall be deemed to imply diplomatic recognition in any case where it has not already been accorded.

(b)

The Governments of the United States of America, of France, of the United Kingdom, and of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,

Convinced that the solution of international controversies necessary for the establishment of a lasting peace would be considerably aided by an agreement on disarmament, or at least on a substantial reduction of armaments,

Will subsequently hold an exchange of views to promote a successful solution of this problem as provided for in paragraph 6 of the United Nations Resolution of November 28, 1953.²

The four Ministers have had a full exchange of views on the German question, on the problems of European security and on the Austrian question but they were unable to reach agreement upon these matters.

1. The final communiqué was discussed at the sixth restricted meeting and adopted at the twenty-first plenary on Feb. 18. For records of these meetings, see the U.S. Delegation record, Document 504, and Secto 176, Document 505. For the final tripartite communiqué, see infra.
2. For this resolution, see United Nations General Assembly, Eighth Session, Supplement No. 17, Resolutions, pp. 3–4, or Department of State Bulletin, Dec. 14, 1953, p. 838.