365. Editorial Note
In a conversation held at the White House on August 26, 1963, President Kennedy discussed a number of issues with Ambassador Dobrynin. Regarding possible atmospheric testing by other powers, Llewellyn Thompson’s memorandum of the conversation reads as follows:
“Dobrynin said that when Harriman was in Moscow, he had mentioned an exchange of letters between the President and General de Gaulle. [Page 886] He asked whether the President thought the French would continue tests.
“The President replied that he thought that for the next year or so the French would only test under ground. He said he had written to General de Gaulle to see if there was some way he could assist him in being able to subscribe to the Test Ban. The General had replied that he thought any assistance we could give would only be under limitations that were unacceptable to him. The President expressed the opinion he did not think General de Gaulle wanted assistance. He then asked Dobrynin what China would do about testing.
“Dobrynin said he did not know, but that the Soviets were not worried. He said how many bombs could the Chinese acquire?
“The President pointed out that they would not need many, and thought their position would be somewhat like that of the French.
“Dobrynin admitted that the Chinese felt entitled to have some bombs of their own, but that this would not affect the balance of power. He thought that when they had acquired some bombs and saw the effects of them, they would be more cautious.
“The President observed that the Soviets appeared to be worried about the Germans five or ten years from now and said that we had to think about the Chinese over a similar period of time.” (Department of State, Central Files, DEF 18-6)
The full text of this memorandum is printed in volume V, Document 213. For the exchange of correspondence between Kennedy and de Gaulle, see Documents 352 and 358.