21. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy0
SUBJECT
- Laos
The King of Laos on February 19 issued a declaration of neutrality and appealed to the neighboring neutral nations of Cambodia, Malaya and Burma to form a commission to arrange for the cessation of all foreign military intervention inconsistent with the country’s neutral status.1 The same day, following the King’s declaration, the Department’s spokesman issued an informal statement to the effect that the declaration seemed constructive and promising.
Free World reaction to the King’s proposal has been generally favorable. The Communists, however, denounced the plan, reiterating their insistence on an international conference and on the reactivation of the ICC. I called in Soviet Ambassador Menshikov on February 20 and expressed our hope that the Soviet Government would cooperate and let the three nations named by the Lao King provide the machinery for the neutralization of Laos satisfactory to both of us.2 Ambassador Menshikov, speaking personally, stated the King’s proposal was one-sided and insisted an international conference was the better approach since it would give an eventual settlement a more solid foundation. Gromyko reiterated essentially this position to British Ambassador Roberts.
Of the nations invited to form the commission, only Malaya has reacted favorably. Burma is reported to have declined the King’s invitation and Cambodia has termed the commission unacceptable stating it is a unilateral proposal and that no such commission can be formed until an international conference has been held to examine the problem and decide what should be done. Your letter to Prince Sihanouk of February 20 together with his rejoinder of February 24 were both published in the Cambodian official press on February 25.
Before concluding the neutral nations plan unworkable and considering steps to place the onus for failure on the Communists, we believe it best to continue for the time being our efforts to overcome major obstacles to its acceptance. The key obstacle is the narrow composition of the present Lao Government which makes it suspect in the eyes of many [Page 68] nations and permits the Communists to continue their support of Souvanna as the legal Prime Minister.
The USSR’s reply to Britain’s proposal of January 21 for reactivating the International Control Commission in Laos, delivered the day before King Savang issued his declaration of neutrality, underscores Moscow’s determination to keep any East-West negotiations for a Lao settlement within the framework of the Geneva Agreement of 1954.3
Former Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma left Phnom Penh on February 21 in a Russian plane, accompanied by Pathet Lao Leaders, for Xieng Khouang, Laos, now under the control of the Pathet Lao. His visit will probably bolster the claim of the Communist-supported shadow government there to be the “legal government of Laos”.
Little change in the military situation has been reported during the past two weeks. Neither side appears to be pressing the other very hard.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 751J.00/3–161. Secret. Drafted by Erickson on February 27 and cleared with SEA, EUR/SOV, and by Steeves and Parsons.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 17.↩
- See Document 17.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 17.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩