Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-08-07
Geneva and the Big Two

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resuming negotiations, the Geneva Big
Four foreign ministers conference has re-
cessed again in the teeth Of continu-
ing failure to reach any kind Of agree
ment on the Soviet-manufactured Berlin
crisis" Speaking in blunt language,
with the concurrence of his British and
French counterparts, Secretary of State
Herter has placed the blame for this
squarely on the Kremlin, and the record
certainly supports him.
Thus, throughout a period Of IS
days of working sessions at Geneva, the
Khrushchev government has declined to
make any significant modification In Its
ultimatum- like demand Of last Novem-
Der. Instead, despite number of Anglo
French-American concessions, 1t has
held fast to the substance Of that de-
mand. AS result, according to Mr.. Her
ter, it has shown that it is mot really
interested in improving the situation in
Berlin" but is interested only in getting
the Western powers out Of the city and
in annexing the free Berliners ito the
Communist system against their will.
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These are strong words, and they
may seem at first glance to be strangely
at variance with the fact that Premier
Khrushchev is scheduled to come to the
United States next month and that Pres
ident Eisenhower has committed himself
to visit the USSR some time in the fall.
Actually, however, there is no inconsist-
ency between the two things. Mr.. Herter
has merely restated what he and the
President have repeatedly said in the
same sort of language throughout the
course of the Geneva negotiations: The
Kremlin has Stubbornly blocked the kind
of progress on free Berlin that would
justify a full-Scale summit conference;
it has done so by adhering to line that
seems clearly designed to make the city
acutely vulnerable to an eventual Com
muniSt takeover And this holds true
even though Foreign Minister Gromyko,
speaking in conciliatory tones, has de-
clared that the recessed talks have mar
rowed differences and led to "a definite
rapprochement" between East and West.
There should be no confusion as
regards a formal summit conference
and a KhruShchev- Eisenhower exchange
of visits. The exchange, of course, is full
of momentouS implications, and 1t may
we'll result, as ally the world hopes, in
a diplomatic breakthrough far-reaching
enough to warrant heads-of-g govern
ment meeting. But the warranty will
have to be in the form of clear advance
promise that such meeting would pro-
mote real progress toward agreement on
crucial questions like the future status
of West Berlin and related issues bearing
Importantly on the peace Of mankind.
Weighed against this background,
Mr.. Herter's words in Geneva are by no
means at war with the softer words
being heard in Moscow and washington
regarding the prospective unofficial"
or informal Eisenhower KhruShchev
meetings. Still, even though no defnitive
negotiations will be involved, these get
togetherS obviously will be events of high
significance. The mere fact that they
are to take place may account for the
Kremlin's refusal to permit prior break
in the dreary and potentially dangerous
Geneva Stalemate. This is fact, too,
which helps to explain why the stale
mate, for the moment at least, is not
causing any of us to lie awake at night