33. Editorial Note
French Ambassador Alphand met with Secretary of State Rusk on February 20, 1961, to discuss the situation in the Congo. According to a memorandum of the conversation, “Alphand said he thought we should be very tough with the Soviets and tell them frankly we would not accept a Communist regime in the Congo. He added Khrushchev anyway is not in a good logistic position vis-à-vis the Congo. The Secretary agreed and said that sometimes he thought we were over pessimistic about our own position in the Congo since the Soviets were having troubles too.” For text of the memorandum of conversation, see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume XX, pages 70–73.