114. Editorial Note
On October 28, the first meeting was held in Washington between a Soviet Delegation, headed by Ambassador Georgi N. Zaroubin, and a United States Delegation, headed by Ambassador William S.B. Lacy, on the question of technical, scientific, and cultural exchanges. The opening statements made by Lacy and Zaroubin at this meeting are printed in Department of State Bulletin, November 18, 1957, pages 880–883. The proceedings of the meeting and the proposals submitted by the two sides were summarized in telegram 491 to Moscow, October 28. (Department of State, Central Files, 511.603/10–2857)
Subsequent meetings were held on November 4, 8, 12, 14, and 21. The proceedings at these meetings were summarized in telegrams 526, 537, 547, 551, and 574, respectively, to Moscow, all of which are ibid., Central File 511.603.
The negotiations were discussed at the Secretary of State’s Staff meeting on November 26, at which Under Secretary of State Dillon presided. According to the notes of the meeting:
“In reply to the Under Secretary’s comment on the rapid progress of the exchange negotiations with the Soviets, Mr. Lacy stated that a slowdown of the negotiations was planned. He indicated that the Soviets were eager to obtain the rights for a direct flight over the Pole to the US, whereas we were desirous of obtaining a satisfactory agreement on radio-TV exchanges. Despite the considerable area of agreement there was some doubt in Mr. Lacy’s mind as to how faithfully these agreements would be carried out. He felt that we held an unusual advantage in these negotiations since we agreed in principle ad referendum to the appropriate American industry or association which would bear the final responsibility for the support of these exchanges. In response to a query from the Under Secretary, Mr. Lacy said that the negotiations on security regulations were going well and he assured the Under Secretary that he was fully aware of the necessity to refer this matter to the Department of Justice for its concurrence.” (Ibid., Secretary’s Staff Meetings: Lot 63 D 75)
Another meeting was held on December 4, which was described in telegram 612 to Moscow, December 4. (Ibid., Central Files, 511.603/12–457) According to the notes of the Secretary of State’s Staff meeting of December 10, Ambassador Lacy reported that the talks “had slowed down to a crawl in order that they could be protracted. Fifty separate exchanges have been discussed, half introduced by the Russians and half by us. About twenty-five have been agreed, generally in the ratio of one to one. The outstanding item the Russians want is the right for direct airflights to the US while the outstanding item we want is the right to present American TV [Page 268] and radio shows to the Russian people. Mr. Lacy believes that the Russians will accept part of our radio and TV offer in the hope that we will agree to discuss direct airflights. It appears that it may be possible to negotiate an improvement concerning the free admissibility of films to the Soviet Union and improved circulation methods for the magazines Amerika and USSR. Mr. Lacy noted that there was certain subterranean propaganda from the Soviet side about the progress of the talks. In some instances the Russians had indicated that the talks were progressing satisfactorily, while in other cases they were reported as being dissatisfied with the progress being made.” (Ibid., Secretary Staff Meetings: Lot 63 D 75)
The Lacy–Zaroubin talks concluded on January 27, 1958.