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May 31, 1968

Compilation of Comments on the Treaty of Tlatelolco Formulated during the General Debate of the First Committee on the Topic of the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Excluding Those of the Representative of Mexico...)

This memorandum is a compendium of comments about the Treaty of Tlatelolco made by different delegations at the UN. It includes statements by the delegates from the United States, Brazil, Ireland, Ethiopia, Austria, Italy, Pakistan, El Salvador, Mauritania, Iraq, Greece, Spain, Tanzania, Zambia, the Netherlands, Argentina, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, Canada, Jordan, Ecuador, Guyana, Colombia, Malta, Panama, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Peru, in that order.

June 14, 1968

Report of the Representative of Mexico, Ambassador Alfonso García Robles, 22nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Part Two), First Commission

Alfonso Garcia Robles explained how the Mexican delegation tried to gather the support of the Latin American countries for the NPT draft. These countries prepared and presented modifications to the NPT text, and the United States and the Soviet Union accepted some of these proposals. Garcia Robles reported that the Argentinian and Brazilian representatives said they recognized the value of the NPT but would not support it if it kept its clause prohibiting peaceful nuclear explosions. The Ambassador also reported the Soviet positive reactions toward the Treaty of Tlatelolco. Garcia Robles recounted the skepticism of some delegations toward the NPT. He recommended not to sign the NPT in 1968 unless the Soviet Union signed Protocol II of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which includes negative security assurances.

1969

Undated, unsigned handwritten note, presumably from Minister Yigal Allon to Minister without Portfolio Israel Galili

This handwritten note, presumably from Minister Yigal Allon, most likely circa 1969-1970, demonstrates how Israel adopted the NPT’s nuclear test criteria for its own purposes, allowing the Israeli leadership to maintain that Israel was not a nuclear state. Allon’s adoption of the NPT’s nuclear test criteria mirrored Israel’s official language at the time when discussing the issue with state department officials.

Editor's note: Because of the unique provenance of this document, it should be treated as unauthenticated and interpreted skeptically. Readers are strongly encouraged to read the associated essay by Ori Rabinowitz.

October 1967

Alva Myrdal, 'New Roads to Disarmament'

The author of “New Roads to Disarmament," Alva Myrdal was head of Swedish disarmament policy from 1962 to 1973. In her 1967 paper presented at the Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw, Belgrade, and Zagreb in 1967, Myrdalpositions nuclear disarmament in its broader context and elaborates on her visions of a new world order. She would publicize many of these same thoughts and observations in her 1976 book, The Game of Disarmament. How the United States and Russia Run the Arms Race. In 1982, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on disarmament.

October 9, 2020

Interview with Michael Yaffe

Michael Yaffe is a former US diplomat. He served as a member of the US delegation to ACRS. 

September 4, 1969

Record of Meeting between Minister Aichi and Premier Kosygin

Japanese Foreign Minister Aichi and Soviet Premier Kosygin discuss bilateral relations, disputed territories, the legacies of World War II, China, and the NPT.

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.

Pagination