llilmlll aDATTHI NATIONM ARQfVE8 - Moscow August 4 1967 SECRET The Honorable Dean Rusk Secretary or State waahington D c Dear Dean In my art er-luncheon talk with Dobrynin I expressed surprise that while in the United States Kosygin bad again indicated we were only interested in limiting ABMs and not Qffensive weapons Dobrynin eaid you had also raised this with him and that he would take the matter up with Kosygin when he saw him toward the end of this month I said I thought the Soviet Government must misunderstand our purposes in raising this question and I was puzzled why We were not trying to freeze an advantage and I was convimed that an agreement was in both our interests I wondered if the Chinese Communist situation entered into the picture Did the Soviets thillk for example that we did not want them to have a defense against a Chinese atomic attack I thougbt we were both in the same boat on this and wou l d be quite prepared to talk about it Dobrynin agreed with the last poiD't but said be thougbt there probably was some misunderstanding He said it was very difficult for a diplomat to bold his own in an argUJ11ent on this question as opponents of an agreemnt could bring lJ all ldms of technical arguments and statement• which a diplomat could not diapute He was clearly referring to their military and indicated there bad been extended debate on the problem in the Soviet Governmeat He went on to say that speaking persoaal1y and asking not to be quoted he thought it had been a mi stake at Glassboro for tbe President to ask McNamara to make bis presentation ef'ore so m D Y people instead of privately to Kosygin He thought the big audience had inhibited McNamara and said that his own private talk with him bad been much More convincing I pointed out also that McNamara bad not been able to complete bis expose as the luncheon bad broken up before he bad finished SECRET • AM '-LASS1flEO ' sj £ _ • APA 0 t3 i - 2 SECRET I may get some more fr0111 him while we are both in the Crimea Sinoerely SECRET