310. Editorial Note
In a message to British Prime Minister Macmillan, March 28, 1963, President Kennedy discussed prospects for a nuclear test ban: “It seems to me that we have to consider the chances of our successfully engaging the Soviet Union in serious negotiations against the background of what is now evidently going on in Moscow. Khrushchev appears to be maneuvering either to realign the policies of Communist China and the Soviet Union or to place the blame on Peiping if Soviet-Chinese relations cannot be repaired. At the same time, Khrushchev has had to confront the Soviet people with the prospect of no improvement in their material well-being because of continuing heavy expenditures resulting from military requirements. In addition, there seems to be another internal bureaucratic reorganization in process. Khrushchev probably has too many problems on his hands right now to give the test ban the attention it deserves.” However, the President continued, “this does not mean that we should drop all conversations with the Soviets on the test ban question.” On non-proliferation, Kennedy was also somewhat pessimistic: “The Soviet attitude towards the multilateral force has stiffened to the point now where the Soviet Union gives evidence of unwillingness to adhere to a non-dissemination declaration of the type which we have been proposing.” For text, see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume VII, pages 659–661.