186. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Press Secretary (Salinger) to President Kennedy0
This writer had lunch on Tuesday, May 1, 1962 with the USSR Ambassador Dobrynin at the Soviet Embassy. Also present were Enver Mamedov of the Novosty News Agency and Georgi Bolshakov, Editor of USSR Magazine. The early part of the luncheon was taken up with non-political pleasantries and in the hope that my trip to the USSR might better USSR-USA relations.
After the departure of Mamedov, the Ambassador became serious and launched into a discussion of his own relationship with the Soviet Government. He said that it was very important to him to report accurately to Moscow the views of this Administration on a variety of subjects. Sometimes, he said, he had to rely on the newspapers for these views; that this source was not always accurate.
He said he would like to improve on this feature of his ambassadorship; he would like to have informal contacts with the President if the President so desired. He said the relationship would be very informal and he would be prepared to meet at any time and at any place with the President to discuss any subject.
He was also interested in how Mrs. Dobrynin could make contact with Mrs. Kennedy. Prior to leaving the Soviet Union he had a telephone call from Mikhail Kharlamov who had received a copy of the TV film of the White House tour which Mrs. Dobrynin had been invited to see with Mrs. Kharlamov. They both enjoyed this tour very much and he said that Mrs. Dobrynin was anxious to meet Mrs. Kennedy without causing embarrassment to Mrs. Kennedy.
Dobrynin said he understood the political problems of this country.
The Ambassador said he would like to establish some rapport with other members of the Administration: Bundy, Ted Sorensen, Schlesinger, Kissinger.1 He said if he was in touch with these people on a regular basis there was less of a chance of sending inaccurate reports to Moscow. He has the desire to send completely accurate reports to Moscow even though he cannot guarantee Soviet reaction to them but that he was determined not to send home just what the government wanted to hear but what the actual views were.
[Page 414]He said he was just feeling his way in this country but that anything which could be done to insure his receiving accurate information would be highly appreciated. I told him I was certain our government wanted him to have accurate information particularly since we felt that he had the confidence of the Soviet government. The Ambassador told me that personally during the previous ambassadorial administration here, Georgi Bolshakov was used as a go-between because we did not have the confidence of getting accurate information to Moscow; and in some cases that would continue to be true; but that now he was available to enjoy that same confidence.
Dobrynin asked if I would have a message from the President to take to Khrushchev on my trip to the USSR. I replied that I would not.