A Question to Russia
It is significant that M. Gromyko, who was presiding by rotation at the Conference of Foreign Ministers' Deputies in Paris on Wednesday, should have adjourned the meeting after five minutes. On the previous day Dr. Jessup, the American delegate, had put in plain words the question that might have been put weeks ago, " Is Russia willing to take part in a meeting of the four Foreign Ministers, or is it not?" Mr. Gromyko had no answer ready on Tuesday. nor apparently had he evolved one by Wednesday, which would seem to indicate that he is waiting instructions from Moscow on this vital point. Since it was Russia who originally proposed a meeting of Foreign Ministers as long ago as November 3rd of last year, the question might seem superfluous ; but the discussions at Paris, reduced as they have been to a series of quibbles, have made it very pertinent. Whether any good can still come out of Paris seems increasingly doubtful. The essential mistake throughout has been to treat the discussions on heads of an agenda as though they were discussions on the substantive issue. It is surely plain that to agree to discuss remilitarisation or the level of armaments creates no presumption whatever about the nature of the decision to be reached on such issues. Dr. Jessup's question at last goes to the heart of the matter. If Russia wants a meeting of Foreign Ministers with a view to agreements on various points, the agenda becomes simply a matter of convenience, and M. Gromyko's version is as good as any other. If not, the Paris deputies might as well pack up forthwith.
