UN General Assembly
1959

We hope that the recent pronouncements made by General de Gaulle, coupled with the position that under his regime a country like Guinea has been able to become independent, may lead to a position where the French Government and the President of the French Republic will find it possible to initiate negotiations with the people who are fighting them. After all, if there is to be peace in Algeria, the first step is a cease-fire, but you cannot negotiate a cease-fire except between people who are engaged in firing. Therefore, the necessity of negotiating logically follows and all the political questions may come afterwards, when negotiations for a cease-fire have begun. There is no use negotiating with a number of Algerians who may be in France or in New York or somewhere else, in order to stop the fighting in the mountains or elsewhere in Algeria. Therefore, direct negotiations with the Algerian National Liberation Front, that is the Government that is in control of a great part of the territory, with a view to finding a way out.