183. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Thompson) to Secretary of State Rusk1
At dinner last night, Dobrynin said he would like some personal advice. He said that President Johnson had referred, in passing, to the private correspondence between him and the Soviet leaders. After their meeting,2 Gromyko had asked Dobrynin whether he thought it would be a good idea to start up this channel again. Dobrynin had replied he did not know what to say, but would like to think about it and perhaps send Mr. Gromyko his views at a later date. He said he was still puzzled about what his advice should be and wondered if I could give him my own views.
I replied that I thought this channel should not be used either for the normal conduct of regular business between the two governments nor to argue out standard positions of the two sides on disputed issues such as Viet-Nam. I thought it best that it be reserved for occasions when something constructive could be accomplished or when there was some explanation of policy or actions which were not readily apparent from formal communications.
Dobrynin expressed his appreciation and appeared to agree with the view I expressed.
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163. Secret; Nodis. No drafting information appears on the memorandum, but it is initialed by Thompson.↩
- See Documents 178 and 179.↩