Evening star., 1961-06-04
KENNEDY
KENNEDY
Laos Discussion Opens PorIey
As Chiefs Talk in Private 3 Hours
Continued From First Page

bAAoO O4AO A4CCO11AS OOI11OIIOW
may be as fruitful as the meet
ing today"
Asked If he agreed with the
Russian characterization Of the
meeting as fruitful" Mr..
Salinger said he had nothing
to add to his original state
ment.
In reply to questions. Mr..
Kharlamov said that Mr..
khrushchev now plans to leave
Vienna at 9 am. Monday and
has no present plans for hold
Ing a press conference before
he goes.
Both facts are taken as good
signs by most observers here.
The Russians in the press
corps had been freely predict
ing that If things went badly
Mr.. Khrushchev would almost
certainly stay over Monday
and relieve himself Of an
angry blast.
Same Tactics
Quite apparently Mr.. Ken
nedy has adopted the same
tactics for this meeting as
proved so successful in his
Paris talks with President de
Gaulle. The subjects raised
first are those which offer the
most promise Of some kind Of
agreement. Breaking the dead
lock on the Laos conference has
been considered most likely
productive result Of the Vienna
meeting.
Other subjects to be taken up
tomorrow are progressively
harder. Mr.. KhruShchev is
expected to make all kinds Of
difficulties over the nuclear test
ban talks, which have been
going on in Geneva for more
than two years.
Among other things he is
certain to complain of the fact
that the French are continuing
their own nuclear tests. And it
will be hard to persuade him to
abandon his demands for a s.
nation directorate to police the
agreement, thus providing a
Russian veto over all inspection
and control.
The final subject to be dis
cussed is. Of course, the most
difficult Of all Mr.. Khrushchev's
announced intentions on Berlin
from the darkest cloud on the
international horizon today. If
he goes through with his plan
Of signing a separate peace
treaty with East Germany with
the result that allied access to
the city is interrupted the
danger Of war would be very
great indeed.
An offer to dissuade Mr..
Khrushchev from the perilous
course he has set for himself is
a major objective Of this meet
ing SO far as President Ken
r1edy is concerned. And unless
It succeeds it will be fatuous to
describe the talks as fruitful or
successful.
Nevertheless, there was a
concerted effort today to give
the impression that things had
gotten off to good start.
The conversations began
after Mr.. Khrushchev's arrival
at the Embassy at 12:45 pm.
The pre-luncheon discussion ,
Included advisers as well as
MIR. Kennedy and Mr.. Khru-
shchev. On the Russian side
there were Foreign Minister
Andrei Gromyko, Ambassador
to the SUnited States Mikhail
Menshiov and A. P. Dobrynin,
chief of the American section {
Of the Russian Foreign Office.
Americans present included
Secretary Of State Rusk, Am 4
bhssador to Moscow Llewellyn
Thompson, State Department I
Soviet expert Charles E. (Chip) I
Bohlen, and Foy D. Kohler, as I
sistant secretary for European =
affairs. I
This meeting lasted until 2
pm. when the talks broke up {
for lunch. Reports trickling out
Of the Embassy said that the
lunch-time conversation was ,
dominated by Mr.. Khrushchev
and Mr.. Kennedy with a GER ,
tain amount Of side talks be-
tween Mr.. RuSk and Mr.. Gro ,
nyko.
The atmosphere was de- ]
scribed as cordial with a num-
her of anecdotes of a political /
slant. There was an exchange /
Of champagne toasts with Mr..
Kennedy holding himself to a
Shappy 3 minutes and Mr..
Khrushchev rambling on aim
iably for nearly 10. :
After lunch Mr.. Kennedy and
Mr.. Khrushchev strolled for few =,
moments in the garden before :
cIoseting themselves for their =
private talk. The only others
present throughout the after ,
noon were interpreters Alex
ander Akalovsky for the Amer ,
ican side and v. M. Sukhodrev !;
fer Mr.. Khrushchev. :
While these private talks s
were going on other members i
OF the two delegations held
their own meeting in an ad- r
joining living room. What sub b
jects were discussed by this f
group were not disclosed. r
For members of the press S
corps the day was spent in a
rather splendid Illustration in r
the gigantic Hofburg Palace, ]
which serves as conference r
headquarters. From time to t
time bulletins giving meager r
details of the talks were posted.
The first small indication of T
how things were going came I
late in day with the announce S
ment by a Russian spokesman Z
that "the general atmosphere I
is good" (
The liveliness of the discus I