Office of the Historian

261. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, April 29, 1968, 4:30 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Access to Berlin

PARTICIPANTS

  • Ambassador Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, USSR
  • Deputy Under Secretary Charles E. Bohlen

During his call on me today, I told Ambassador Dobrynin purely privately that I was somewhat concerned over the situation created by [Page 662] the events of the East German authorities to bar the travel to Berlin of the West German Mayor. I said this could create all sorts of unpleasant complications since we regarded it as a violation of the agreement for access to Berlin. Dobrynin said that he had not been informed recently of this development but understood it was not as Mayor of Berlin that Mr. Schuetz had been refused. I laughed and said I thought it was impossible even in East German parlance to divide an individual in two. Dobrynin agreed but repeated that he was not fully informed of the situation.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 28 GER B. Confidential. Drafted by Bohlen.↩