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Documents

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

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.

May 1968

Memo to V. V. Kuznetsov Regarding Proposed Clarifications to the NPT

This memo to Vasily Kuznetsov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the USSR, includes proposed amendments and clarifications to various articles and sections of the NPT. Topics of the proposed amendments include an emphasis on the continued importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity and the exchange of research and technology on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. The document also describes how to proceed in negotiations with the American side, as well as with several Warsaw Pact countries, and to telegraph once the requests in the memo have been delivered.

March 1968

Telegram, 'To the Soviet Representative'

Sent to the Soviet representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations, this document lists the nations to which the representative must pay the most attention at the UN meeting. The document also underlines how the Soviet representative should speak with members of the American delegation in reference to any diplomatic collaboration on the NPT.

June 1968

Statement by the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces its decision to open the NPT for signing in Moscow, Washington, and London beginning on July 1, 1968.

November 12, 1945

Memorandum Presented to Mr. Harriman by V. M. Molotov on 12 November 1945

This Soviet reply to the American government attempts to lay out Soviet changes to American proposals for a control mechanism and Far East Commission in Japan and provides justification for those changes.

December 18, 1970

Statement from the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the DPRK Embassy in Moscow

A statement to the DPRK Embassy about a series of incidents that have soured relations between Korean authorities and Soviet embassy staff. Over the course of four months, DPRK authorities have detained Soviet diplomats traveling on official business and denied Soviet merchant vessels access to Korean ports for unclear reasons. The Ministry points out that the DPRK in these incidents violated the two countries’ agreement on visa-free travel for official matters, and asks that DPRK takes measures to ensure that similar events will not occur in the future.