Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume VII, Vietnam, September 1968–January 1969

280. Situation Report by the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Read)¹

Washington, January 13, 1969.

Ambassador Vance called on the Secure Phone at 10:30 a.m.

1. Oberemko called on Vance and Harriman this morning at Oberemko’s request.

2. Oberemko said that he was putting forward a procedural compromise proposal. He said it was authorized by his Ambassador but not by the Soviet government and it was simply a personal initiative by Zorin and Oberemko designed to break the deadlock.²

3. Oberemko suggested a round table with two small rectangular tables adjacent at opposite sides—the closer to the round table the better from the U.S. point of view, the further removed the better from Hanoi’s point of view.³

4. He said that Lau was coming to see him tonight and he asked if Harriman and Vance had any reaction to his proposal.⁴

5. Harriman and Vance said they could not get a Governmental position on this proposal or commit the GVN on the matter today. They pressed Oberemko to make sure that his proposal was part of an overall package deal in which the drawing of lots for the order of speaking was satisfactorily resolved as well, and Oberemko said he considered it a part of an overall solution. Harriman and Vance did not encourage him but asked him to put the matter to Lau without any commitment on our part at this time.

Comment:

The delegation suggests that we not advise the GVN on this move at this time but let Bunker continue to press Thieu to go to the fall-back proposal of a round unmarked table until we know whether Oberemko’s idea is acceptable to the DRV—which they doubt.

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, HARVAN Misc. & Memos, Vol. III [1 of 2]. Secret; Nodis/HARVAN Plus.
2. In telegram 376/Delto 1139 from Paris, January 10, Harriman and Vance reported that in a January 9 meeting Zorin promised to help get the expanded talks started by proposing to the DRV delegation that it accept an unmarked round table. (Ibid., HARVAN Chronological, Vol. XXVI)
3. As reported in the delegation’s summary of this meeting with the Soviets, transmitted in telegram 474/Delto 1146 from Paris, January 13, Oberemko proposed that the separation distance between the two separate tables and the main round table be “far enough for Bogomolov to walk between.” (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, IS/OIS Files: Lot 90 D 345, Paris Peace Conference, 1968-1969, Todel Chrons, January 1969) In telegram 5746/Todel 1959 to Paris, January 14, Bundy noted that “the Oberemko proposal has echoes of Geneva [Conference on Berlin] in 1959, when the final seating arrangement for the two German delegations was in terms of one or two hand-widths from the main table.” (Ibid.)
4. In a meeting the previous day, Lau had rejected both Vance’s initial proposal of a baize strip across the table and his alternative package proposing instead a thin line. (Telegram 434/Delto 1143 from Paris, January 12; Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, HARVAN Chronological, Vol. XXVI)