Office of the Historian

109. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union0

Washington, July 4, 1963, 6:29 p.m.

54. For Ambassador. Please deliver following message to Khru-shchev/Brezhnev from the President:

“The American people are grateful for your message of good will on the anniversary of our Independence Day.1 The American Revolution was based on the desire of our people to build a free nation in a world of peace. Today, that desire for peace is more urgent than ever. The world has long passed that time when armed conflict can be the solution to international problems. That is why I share your desire, expressed in your message of today, that we move forward with understanding towards the solution of those key problems which divide us. I am hopeful that a world peace, just and lasting, can be achieved.

John F. Kennedy”

Flash hour of delivery so that we can set release time here.

Rusk
  1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Limited Official Use; Operational Immediate. Drafted by General Clifton at the White House and approved by Nobbe (S/S). Another copy of this message is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, USSR, Khrushchev Correspondence.↩
  2. Document 108.↩