Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLT ( Naval Aide) 178 the OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE DECLASSIFIED WASHINGTON E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 By DEB NLT, Date 4-4-85 March 7, 1951 E T SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS FOUR-POWER - Thus far nothing has been agreed upon EXPLORATORY TALKS in the Paris talks, since the Soviet delegate has taken a recalcitrant stand and has sought to inject contentious issues of substance into the discus- - sions which, as Ambassador Jessup has pointed out to him, tend to pre - judge the actual substantive discussions by the Foreign Ministers which the present talks are supposed to prepare for. Austrian Foreign Minister Gruber who is in Paris has called on Ambassador Jessup to reiterate the Austrian Government's position on the Austrian Treaty and its interest in having the four Foreign Ministers take up the Austrian Treaty issue at the forth- coming meeting. GERMANY In Berlin the Allied Commandants, acting with HI COM approval, imposed countermeasures yesterday against the Soviets by initiating a close check of all boats navigating on West Berlin waterways though which Soviet Zone traffic is moving at the rate of 300, 000 tons monthly. In the past months the Soviets have been concentrating on the gradual throttling of waterways traffic between West Germany and West Berlin, recognizing that the only channel (other than air) which we can expand in accordance with the grow- ing needs of Berlin is waterways, since rail traffic is limited by written agreements and highway traffic is limited by the type of cargo and the restrictive operation of Soviet border control points. The Allied Com- - mandants believe that this retaliation measure may force the Soviets to come to an agreement covering the field of water transport. SPAIN We have informed Embassies London and Paris that we have given full consideration to British and French mi sgivings over our approach to General Franco on western defense matters, and have again spoken to the British and French stressing that our instructions to Ambassador Griffis now limit our approach to Franco merely to sounding out the Spanish Government concerning its basic attitude toward western defense, and that we will consult with them further before taking any substantive action. TOP €