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Documents

May 28, 1960

Letter, Foreign Minister Václav David to Prime Minister Viliam Široký

Czechoslovakia participated in the Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament, a short-lived outfit which was mired in superpower infighting and consequently made no substantive progress. This letter, written from Czechoslovakia’s Foreign Minister Václav David to Prime Minister Viliam Å iroký, is nonetheless informative, as its attachment contains a memorandum outlining Soviet proposals for general and complete disarmament in three phases. 

October 28, 1966

The Issue of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the Conversations of Comrade Gromyko with US Government Officials During the 21st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)

This document includes accounts of several conversations between Soviet officials and US diplomats, including Andrei Gromyko for the Soviets, and Dean Rusk and Arthur Goldberg for the Americans. The most pressing topic discussed during these meetings was figuring out mutually acceptable language to mollify Soviet demands that the NPT contain explicit prohibitions on the transfer of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear countries not just directly but through a military alliance, namely, NATO, remembering previous US attempts to nuclearize NATO through the Multilateral Force (MLF). Some attention is paid to fears not just of the Soviet Union but the US and other NATO allies as well about the FRG acquiring nuclear weapons. In addition to the focus on the semantic differences in the Soviet and American drafts of the NPT, the document emphasizes that one key area of common ground between the Soviets and Americans is the importance that an agreement be reached sooner rather than later before more countries acquire nuclear capabilities.

November 22, 1966

Correspondence Delivered to G. M. Korniyenko by D. E. Boster

This correspondence between Davis Boster and Georgy Kornienko recounts Boster's impressions of where US-Soviet negotiations on the NPT stand after reading Kornienko's report of a conversation with the US chargé. Boster summarizes areas of common ground between the US and the Soviets while also expressing the hope that what he describes as semantic differences over whether to explicitly prohibit transfers of nuclear weapons to a group of countries do not impede the achievement of a nuclear non-proliferation agreement. Boster closes by expressing the hope and willingness to continue negotiations in New York and reach an agreement.

November 22, 1966

Correspondence, 'To Forward to the Members of the CPSU CC Politburo and Candidate Members of the CPSU CC'

A note from D.E. Boster translated into Russian from the English. This correspondence references a previous conversation with the temporary Charge d'Affaires, John Gatry, about the NPT.

November 22, 1966

Reception of the US Chargé d'Affaires in the USSR (Gatry) on Nov. 18, 1966: Note to be Distributed to CPSU CC Politburo Members and Candidate Members

This note to be distributed to the Central Committee of the USSR describes a conversation between Andrei Gromyko and US Chargé d'Affaires regarding the Americans' proposed language in Article I of the NPT. Gromyko shared the concern of the Soviet government that the American draft as it stands says nothing about prohibiting the transfer of nuclear weapons under joint control to an alliance or group of countries, and that the Soviet government wants to close off all means through which to proliferate nuclear weapons. Gromyko raised other concerns with the American draft and requests that Gatry notifies the US government and Dean Rusk of their conversation with the hope that Soviet concerns can be addressed appropriately.

November 22, 1966

Concerning Roshchin's Conversation with Foster on November 17, 1966

This note summarizes a conversation between Alexei Roshchin and William Foster concerning Foster's views on individual provisions of the Soviet draft of the NPT, with Foster's primary concerns pertaining to Article I. The main issue of contention between the Soviet and American drafts is whether to explicitly prohibit the transfer of nuclear weapons on a group basis or within an alliance, as the Soviets desire, but to which the Americans do not want explicitly stated in the Treaty. Roshchin conveyed the readiness of the Soviets to continue discussions on Article I, to which Foster's response that he would need to coordinate with the White House on the official posture of the US government toward the new Soviet language on the issue.

1968

Directives to the Delegation of the USSR at the XXIII Session of the General Assembly of the UN on the question about the Memorandum of the Government of the USSR about Some Urgent Measures for the Termination of the Arms Race and Disarmament

This document contains a list of directives to the Soviet delegation at the 23rd Session of the UNGA which focus on a Soviet government memorandum that was submitted by the Soviet government for addition to the session's agenda. The initial directives instruct the delegation to emphasize the urgency that, to the Soviet government, befits the serious need to terminate the arms race and start making concrete steps towards disarmament. Later directives call attention to discussions held between the Soviet government and those of other socialist countries, as well as additions to the resolution of the UNGA proposed by Western countries that the Soviet government finds unacceptable. Nonetheless, the delegation is to bring the Memorandum to the attention of the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee (ENCD) for consideration.

September 1968

Letter by A. Gromyko to the General Secretary of the UN U Thant

Gromyko asks U Thant to include the "Memorandum of the Government of the USSR on Some Urgent Measures to End the Arms Race and Disarmament" on the agenda of the 23rd Session of the UNGA. He also extolls the signing of the NPT as an opportunity to create better conditions for the termination of the arms race and as a starting point for further international agreements on the issues of disarmament and the termination of the usage of nuclear weapons. Gromyko also asks Thant to share the Memorandum in the capacity of an official document on the UNGA.

September 1968

About the Major Proposals Put Forward by the Soviet Union for Inclusion of the Agenda of the Day at the XXIII Session of the UNGA

This memo contains a list of items on the agenda in preparation for the XXIII Session of the General Assembly. Some of the listed items on the agenda include instructing Gromyko to put the "Memorandum of the Government of the USSR on Some Urgent Measures to End the Arms Race and Disarmament" on the agenda of the 23rd Session of the UNGA and approve the directives of the delegation of the USSR to the 23rd Session of the UNGA. This memo also includes a list of logistical preparations for the Soviet delegation, including approving a list of advisers and experts for the Soviet delegation, as well as means of transportation to the 23rd Session in New York for the USSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belarussian SSR, and potentially the Mongolian SR upon request.

May 27, 1968

Memo of the CPSU CC Regarding the Account of Proposed Amendments to the NPT by Non-Nuclear States by the Soviet Delegation to the UN

This memo discusses several amendments proposed by various non-nuclear countries during the First Committee of the UNGA, and the Soviet delegation's amenability to adding amendments and clarifications to the NPT so long as the essence of the Treaty is not altered or undermined. Some of the topics of the proposed amendments include the strengthening of sharing nuclear technology and research on nuclear energy and other peaceful uses of the atom and international observation as it pertains to peaceful nuclear explosions. Attention is also paid to when further negotiations on peaceful nuclear explosions will take place, relaying the difference in Soviet and American opinions on what the optimal timing of those negotiations would be but, ultimately, the Soviet government's desire, first and foremost, to have the NPT go into effect as soon as possible.

Pagination