Authority 60 3 1 ma a DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON DHC 20520 76 SECRET Attachment November 5 1969- - Mr Okun Attached is a memorandum of con- versation between the Secretary and Ambassador Helmut Roth Chief Disarmament Section German Foreign Office dated October 30 1969 For approval prior to distribution The Secretary's remarks are side- lined in red 0% This memorandum was drafted in by Mr Farley err Theodore L Eliot Jr Executive Secretary APproved for distribution 9 3 Approved for distribution as amended Attachment 1' US-FRG Consultations on NPT swam y jbk DECLASSIFIED AuthorityM This document cons sts of 3- i pages Number 1 of copies Series A 11 1 69 - UNITED STATES ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT AGENCY 3 l7 7 Memorandum of Conversation App'd in 11 6 69 October 30 1969 Place Office of the suamnw US-FRG Consultations on NPT Secretary Of State Ambassador Helmut Roth Chief Disarmament Section German Foreign Office Secretary of State William P Rogers Mr Philip J Farley Deputy Director ACDA COPIES To ACDA Amembassy Moscow USUN COMPLETE DISTRIBUTION WH PM MADE BY ems 11 7 69 CIA I0 DOD US Mission Geneva EUR Amembassy Bonn f In welcoming Ambassador Roth the Secretary recalled his -Foreign Minister He recalled also meeting Mr Scheel before he became Foreign Minister Ambassador Roth said that the new German G0vernment intended to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty as soon as pos sible The consultations with U S officials this week were designed to obtain clarifications which the previous Cabinet had agreed were needed It was expected that these current consultations would be the last that would be necessary with the United States before FRG signature There would also be certain discussions with the French and Soviet Governments Bundestag debate would then be held hopefully for one day only in the week of November 10 Signature would be as soon as pos- sible thereafter several conversations with the Federal Chancellor when he was m jgf 7 The Secretary expressed appreciation for the attitude of the German Government on this matter He summarized briefly his conversations with Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko in New York earlier this fall concerning the desirability of early GROUP 1 SECRET Excluded from auto- AGMA matic downgrading 2-52 and BY 8 3 GPO 9256-35-1 DECLASSIFIED Allthority - age 50 I - SECRET U S and Soviet deposit of instruments of ratification Ambassador Roth said that the German Government attached impor- tance to such simultaneous deposit on the part of the two major nuclear powers The Secretary stressed that this was our intent The Secretary asked whether any assurances were being sought from the United States in connection with German signa ture Ambassador Roth referred to the German interest in assur- ances of U S support for continuing German membership on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA together with amendment of the statute of the IAEA to this end The Federal Government also wished reaffirmation of certain U S statements regarding U S commitment to the secu- rity of the Federal Republic and Berlin The Secretary stressed that there was a good deal of sensitivity attached to statements regarding commitments Even reaffirmation of existing commit ments might be subject to criticism as implying an extension of commitments The United States of course stood by its commit- ments If it was necessary to restate this formulation should be found along the lines of restatement of existing treaty 5 obligations Ambassador Roth indicated understanding of this difficulty but emphasized the importance of this matter for his Government at a time when it was signing a renunciation of nuclear weapons for its own defense Mr Farley said that in view of the complexity of this matter there would be some time required for finding a mutually acceptable formulation though this would be desirable by November 7 to meet the German schedule for signature 0n the question of FRG IAEA membership on the Board of Governors there was no new policy issue for the United States which had previously supported German interests in this regard Ambassador Roth expressed the hope that there might be an exchange of letters between the Secretary and the Minister incorporating this latter U S assurance The Secretary suggested that after the FRG representatives had received confirmation of the U S assurance in the current talks the Foreign Minister might write him if he wished in addition a letter from the Secretary SECRET DECLASSIFIED #7 Authority 5 m b 60 i SECRET -3- Ambassador Roth mentioned the German interest in bilateral consultations on SALT The German Government was well satisfied with NATO consultations on SALT and recognized that NATO would be the primary center for such continuing consultations The ERG had Special interests in security and stability in Central Europe however and wished further opportunity at an appropriate time to explore in depth how the United States envisaged the relationship between SALT and such stability v While not turning down the German suggestion for consultations the Secretary observed that SALT planning had been intensively discussed and expressed the view that it was doubtful much more productive could be achieved before the talks had begun and the direction in which they would move had been established SECRET 3 9                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu