business, and much of that involves the great powers. We do transact business at lower levels, and we must develop the techniques for transacting as much business as we can in whatever channel is most effective. I would not subscribe, and I don't think any of the other great powers would subscribe, to the notion that diplomacy can be conducted only at the top. Every day we act in just the contrary direction. 219. "THERE ARE NO PLANS... FOR ANY MEETING WITH MR. KHRUSHCHEV ... AT THIS TIME”: Replies Made by the President (Kennedy) to Questions Asked at a News Conference, February 15, 1961 18 I hope it will be possible for the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop in such a way that the peace can be protected and that it will be possible for us to use our energies along peaceful and productive and fruitful lines. The development of space, preventing outer space from being used as a new area of war, of course, is of the greatest possible concern to the people of this country. I am hopeful that it will be possible, if relations between our two countries can be maintained, can be channeled along peaceful lines; I am hopeful that real progress can be made this year. But it is my earnest hope that our relations can remain harmonious and that it will be possible for us to cooperate in peaceful ventures rather than be differing on matters which carry with them such hazards. There are no plans, nor have there been any plans, for any meeting with Mr. Khrushchev. As I said earlier, I have not heard whether Mr. Khrushchev is planning to come to the United Nations meeting.19 There are no other plans for a meeting at this time. 220. "WE ARE ATTEMPTING...TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY EFFECTIVE AGREEMENTS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE SOVIET UNION WHICH WILL PERMIT A RELAXATION OF WORLD TENSION": Replies Made by the President (Kennedy) to Questions Asked at a News Conference, March 1, 1961 (Excerpts) 20 I wouldn't attempt to make a judgment about what our future relations [with the Soviet Union] are going to be. I am hopeful that we can work out a relationship which will permit us to live in peace and maintain our security and the security of those countries with which we are allied. That is our object. 18 The replies printed here are taken from pp. 93–94 of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961. 19 20 I.e., to attend the resumed 15th session of the U.N. General Assembly. The replies printed here are taken from pp. 140 and 141 of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961. I am hopeful that the Soviet Union will come to that conclusion also. What factors will be in their minds in making their policy, of course, can only be surmised. But we are attempting, and will be attempting in the coming months, to determine whether any effective agreements can be accomplished with the Soviet Union which will permit a relaxation of world tension. And we should know that in some months. I would welcome more of it [Soviet television coverage of presidential news conferences]. And I am glad that they are doing it, and I hope that it can be expanded so that it gives an accurate reflection of the point of view of this country. 221. THE POSSIBILITIES OF COEXISTENCE WITH THE SOVIET UNION "IN A WORLD SITUATION MARKED BY THE MOST FAR-REACHING AND REVOLUTION- We live in a world situation which is marked by the most far-reaching and revolutionary change. It requires new ideas and many of them-fresh approaches and imagination. There is plenty of room for ideas and imagination from any source. We are witnessing at the present time the disintegration of older political forms, among them colonial empires. We are seeing coming into being international organizations, both regional and worldwide, at almost a breathtaking pace, whether one is thinking of the Common Market or the United Nations or the discussion of a Central American common market or SEATO or the Colombo Plan or any of the hundreds of international organizations who are meeting right around the year. This problem of peace is affected by what's going on with the rest of these things. One speaks in this country, I suppose in yours, of the revolution of rising expectations, another powerful force toward change. The Communist bloc has entered this world of change in these recent years with great new energy, and, I must say, some considerable skill and sophistication. Peace is not a bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow, or, indeed, between the West and Moscow. Peace is going to be worked out in relation to these changes that are going on. "The replies printed here are taken from pp. 440, 441-442, and 443-444 of the Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 27, 1961 (reprint of Department of State press release No. 111, Mar. 6, 1961). The interview was televised in the United Kingdom by the BBC, Mar. 6. I doubt very much that peace is going to come about by a general formula. Peace is a matter of hard work, detailed negotiation, application to specific problems to determine whether on specific issues, small as well as large, there is any possibility for any constructive arrangement. I think that one of the fresh approaches which the new administration can make is to take a look at some of these revolutionary changes and try to decide what our relation to these changes ought to be. Now, to a considerable extent, you and we in the West should be thinking about how we can regain the leadership of our own revolutions-independence. I mean, if you walk into the General Assembly of the United Nations, you will see sitting there more than 20 independent members who used to be a part of the British Empire. You people beginning with the United States, of course you people carried notions of freedom with you wherever you went. You couldn't help it. Well, now, we in the West have tended to lose the leadership of our own revolutions for economic and social progress, for national independence, for freedom itself, for constitutional government. And you have the curious phenomenon that Mr. Khrushchev stands up in the General Assembly proposing that he is the leader of the nationalist revolution, that he is the champion of national independence Mr. Khrushchev, who never gave away anything. And he makes some headway with this notion at the expense of you and us, who invented this idea. It might be worth noting that very few of the problems between Washington and Moscow are bilateral problems between the United States and the Soviet Union. If we have our problems with them, it is because of the anxiety which we and others have about what they might do to people somewhere else-Western Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, wherever. Now, if these areas were strong, independent, free, leading their own lives, and with a sense of security, the tensions between Washington and Moscow would drop very fast indeed. There are many words on which you would need perhaps a bilateral glossary as between the free peoples and the Communists. "Freedom" is one. "Peace" is one. Perhaps "coexistence" is one. I think that there have been times when they seem to be quite convinced that coexistence, as we might understand it, is possible. But when one reads declarations such as the recent declaration of the Communist summit about Communist purposes 22 or Mr. Khrushchev's speech on January 6th,23 one wonders if we're not back to the problem of definition and understanding. "See footnote 13 to doc. 217, ante. "Ante, doc. 212. I wouldn't want to be categorical about such an important concept as this. We intend, on our own side, and I'm sure that you people do yourselves-we intend to work earnestly, with care, with imagination, to find out whether coexistence is possible. 222. DISCONTINUATION OF THE INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNIST PRINTED PROPAGANDA FROM ABROAD: Statement Issued by the White House, March 17, 1961 24 President Kennedy, following consultation with the Secretary of State Dean Rusk, the Postmaster General J. Edward Day, the Secre tary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon, and the Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, on March 17 ordered discontinuation immediately of the program intercepting Communist propaganda from abroad. A review by the four departments has disclosed that the program serves no useful intelligence function at the present time. Discontinuance of the program was unanimously recommended by an ad hoc committee of the Planning Board of the National Security Council in a report of June 29, 1960.25 The Planning Board unanimously concurred in the recommendation of the committee, but the recommendation was not carried forward. Since 1948 varying degrees of control have been exercised by the Bureau of Customs and the Post Office Department concerning the importation of Communist political propaganda. Since 1951 the program has been extended to a spot check or censorship of all mail, except first-class mail. Not only has the intelligence value of the program been found to be of no usefulness, but the program also has been of concern to the Secretary of State in connection with efforts to improve cultural exchanges with Communist countries. 223. SOVIET-UNITED STATES GENERAL DISCUSSION OF INTERNATIONAL QUESTIONS OF INTEREST TO BOTH COUNTRIES: Agreed Statement Made Public at Washington Following a Meeting Between the Secretary of State (Rusk) and the Soviet Foreign Minister (Gromyko), March 18, 1961 26 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. Andrei A. Gromyko and Secretary of State Rusk, together with their advisers, had a general discussion of international questions of interest to both countries. "White House press release dated Mar. 17, 1961 (text as printed in the Department of State Bulletin, Apr. 3, 1961, pp. 479-480). The discussion took place at a lunch in the State Department today, March 18 and lasted from 1:00 until 6:00 p.m. The choice of today's date was determined by the fact that Foreign Minister Gromyko is currently at New York for the resumed session of the United Nations General Assembly and that Secretary of State Rusk is departing the United States shortly for a journey of several days' duration.27 The Foreign Minister and Secretary of State had an open and frank discussion on a variety of subjects of mutual interest. It is hoped that the discussion will lead to a better mutual understanding of the positions and attitudes of both Governments and may facilitate the consideration of outstanding problems. 224. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT'S "MODIFIED" STATE VISIT TO FRANCE, Read to Correspondents by the President's Press Secretary (Salinger), Palm Beach, Florida, April 3, 1961 28 The President has accepted an invitation from French President de Gaulle to meet with him in Paris on May 31, for three days-May 31, June 1 and 2. The President will be accompanied to Paris by Mrs. Kennedy. 225. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE KENNEDY-KHRUSHCHEV MEETING AT VIENNA, Issued by the White House, May 19, 1961 29 As has already been announced, the President has accepted an invitation from French President de Gaulle to meet with him in Paris on May 31 to June 2.30 Following discussions through diplomatic channels which began last March and an exchange of communications,31 the President and Chairman Khrushchev have agreed to meet in Vienna on June 3 and 4. The President and Chairman Khrushchev understand that this meeting is not for the purpose of negotiating or reaching agreement on the major international problems that involve the interest of many other countries. The meeting will however afford a timely and convenient opportunity for the first personal contact between them and a general exchange of views on the major issues which affect the relationships between the two countries. "Secretary Rusk departed the United States Mar. 23, 1961, to attend the seventh Ministerial Meeting of the SEATO Council; see post, docs. 456-457. 23 Files of the Office of News, Department of State. 29 White House press release dated May 19, 1961. 20 See supra. 21 Not printed. |