Evening star., 1951-05-31
Text of Note to Soviet Union.

ext U INOtO I
Tert OF United States note
regarding a proposed meeting
OF the Big Four Foreign Min
listers communicated to the
SoDiet government today:
The Secretary Of State presents
his compliments to His Excellency
the Foreign Minister of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics and
has the honor to refer to the
current Four-Power negotiations
in Paris.
Since March S the representa-
twe~ef' the United States together
with the representatives of France
and the United Kingdom, has
been engaged in discussions with
the representative of the Soviet
Union in a preliminary confer
ence in Paris. This preliminary
conference was agreed upon as
result of an exchange of notes
which ended with the note Of the
United States Government dated
February 10, 1851, and the reply
Of the Soviet government dated
March /, 1851. AS indicated in
that exchange of notes, the pur-
pose of the conference was to
reach agreement on a mutually
acceptable agenda for meeting
of the Foreign Ministers of the
United States. United Kingdom,
France and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics. Such an
agreement has not yet been
reached.
Views Called Clarified.
In the course of the discussions
the views of the four delegations
were brought out and clarified
Considering that the discussions
had provided all the elements nec-
essary for agreement on an
agenda, the representatives of the
United States, United Kingdom
and France presented to the So
Wet representative on May a new
proposal containing three alterna-
tive agenda. The purpose Of these
three alternatives was to assure
the possibility of. the meeting OF
the four Foreign Ministers. It has
been, and remains, the view of the
United States Government that
such a meeting is desirable in the
interest of strengthening peace
which is the constant objective OF
the foreign policy of the United
States.
In the course of the examina-
ton of these three alternatives
the representatives in Paris were
unable to reach full agreement
AS regards the first alternative
the only difficulty was that the
wording proposed by the three
delegations for the sub-item con-
corning armamentS was not ac-
ceptable to the Soviet delegation
The third alternative was not ac-
cepted by the Soviet delegation
as a basis for agreement. In the
second alternative, however, lnodi-
f1cationS were made in Item
and there is now agreement among
the four delegations on the
presentation of this item as vel
as on the inclusion of four othel
items in the agenda and on theil
wording. Apart from the fina
order of these four items, which
remains to be determined, but
ought not to present major diff.
culties, agreement could have beer
reached on the second alternative
If the Soviet delegation had not
insisted on the acceptance of theil
proposal relating to the North At.
lantic treaty.
Agreements Believed Adequate.
The United States Government
for its part considers that tlat
amount of agreement SO fal
reached on the agenda makes pos
sible a meeting of the four Foreign
Ministers which would permit dis
cuSsion among others of all topics
proposed by the Soviet govern
ment in the exchange of notes
preceding the Paris Conference
and on the 5th and 7th of March
at the outset of that conference
Accordingly, the United State.
Government ik pleased to invite
the four Foreign Ministers to NEE
in Washington and suggests tina
the meeting begin on July %. TIL,
United States Government is pre-
pared to participate in such con
ference not only on the agends
alternative b described above
but also on either of the two otheI
agenda alternatives A and c.
The texts of these three proposal
are inclosed.
The United States Government
hopes to receive an early repl,
from the Soviet government indi
eating its readiness to accept thi
invitation and stating which o
the three agenda it finds accept
able for the purpose of holding ,
meeting OF the four Foreign Min
listers. Any further arrangement
for the meeting could be worke,
out on receipt of favorable repl,
from the Soviet government.
ALTERNATIVE (A).
I. Examination of the cause
and effects of present interna
tional tensions in Europe and o
the means to secure a real ant
lasting improvement in the re
lationS between the Soviet Union
the United States. United King
dom and France. including tn
following questions relating to
The demilitarization of Germany
the existing level of armament
and armed forces and measure
to be proposed jointly by the U. s
S. R., United States, United King
dom and France for the interna
tional control and reduction O
armaments and armed forces; full
fillment of present treaty obliga
tions and agreements; the elimina
ton of the threat of war and fea
Of aggression.
TT Formulation of tho frao ~, fo