Concerning Roshchin's Conversation with Foster on November 17, 1966

Secret. Only copy

CONCERNING ROSHCHIN’S CONVERSATION WITH FOSTER ON 17 November [entered by hand: 1966]

Foster tentatively expressed his views on individual provisions of the Soviet draft non-proliferation treaty. Dwelling in more detail on Article 1, he expressed the opinion that it would be difficult for the US to agree with those provisions which speak of a prohibition on transferring nuclear weapons on a group basis or together with other members of a military alliance. In Foster’s opinion, this language is essentially no different from the wording “on a collective basis” which, as the American side informed us earlier, it could not accept.

Foster declared in this connection that the new American version of Article 1 passed to us on 10 November was drawn up so as to achieve the same goals, that is, to prohibit any transfer of a nuclear weapon or control over such a weapon, and at the same time avoiding language which would too directly mean the US allies in NATO and thereby create difficulties for the US when coordinating the draft treaty with the allies.

In making these comments, Foster read to us the following addendum to the oral statement which he made at the previous meeting and as an official comment to the American draft of Article 1.

“No multinational measures will be permitted which would involve the transfer of a nuclear weapon by any country possessing a nuclear weapon or the abandonment of control over its own nuclear weapon by any country possessing such a weapon”.

Then, concerning the provision of Article 1 about the prohibition on transferring information which might be used to produce a nuclear weapon, Foster said that, as before, he considers the inclusion of such a provision in the text of the treaty to be superfluous. He confirmed that the American side is ready to make a public statement during the signing of the treaty instead of this which lists in detail everything that would fall under the prohibition of aid in the production of a nuclear weapon, including a prohibition on the transfer of information.

In reply to these comments of Foster we expressed our arguments in justification of our wording of Article 1 of the draft treaty. We also declared that [we] are ready to continue the exchange of opinions about the further coordination of the draft nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty.

At the end of the meeting Foster, noting that he was speaking unofficially, commented that, as he suspects, some delay might now arise in the course of our negotiations besides those difficulties about the substance of the matter of which he spoke. The American wording of Article I, he continued, was approved by the President of the US, and therefore the attitude of the American side toward the new Soviet language of this Article also has to be coordinated with the President, but right now he is ill.