250. Personal Note Prepared by the Deputy Secretary of State (Dam)1
[Omitted here is material unrelated to the Soviet Union.]
Finally I had several meetings with the Secretary and Rick Burt to discuss our response to the note that Soviet Charge Isakov gave Rick Burt Friday night,2 giving the Soviet response to the President’s recent letter to Chernenko.3 The Soviet response was simply a proposed public statement which was extremely tendentious. In fact, the Soviets published it today. Our own response we intend to make in the form of a draft joint statement announcing the talks, but unlike the Soviets, we do not plan to publicize it, because it is simply impossible to negotiate in public, as the Soviets are doing. Indeed, their own behavior indicates that they probably do not intend to go forward with talks, but one can never be sure what is motivating them to release publicly immediately their own diplomatic communications.
[Omitted here is material unrelated to the Soviet Union.]
- Source: Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S–I Records, Deputy Secretary Dam’s Official Files: Lot 85D308, Personal Notes of Deputy Secretary—Kenneth W. Dam—Oct. 1983–Sept. 1984, No classification marking. Dictated by Dam on July 23.↩
- July 20.↩
- A Department of State chronology, which accounted for U.S. and Soviet statements on the Vienna talks, is attached to an information memorandum from Kelly to Shultz, July 30. According to the chronology: “Soviet Chargé Isakov gave Assistant Secretary Burt text of a Soviet proposal for US-Soviet joint announcement of agreement ‘to open talks in order to draw up and conclude an agreement on the prevention of the militarization of outer space, including the complete mutual renunciation of anti-satellite systems.’ The proposed statement would also announce agreement on a ‘mutual moratorium on the testing and deployment of outer space weapons commencing on the day of the start of the talks.’ Isakov suggested U.S. should be able to accept Soviet draft, since the President accepted Soviet proposal ‘without preconditions.’” (Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S, Executive Secretariat Special Caption Documents, 1979–1989, Lot 92D630, Not for the System Documents, July 1984)↩