Statement by the President on the Resumption of the Geneva Disarmament Negotiations.

THE Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee resumes its deliberations on Monday in Geneva after a month-long recess.

The United States continues to regard this conference as one of signal importance for the future of humanity. If a beginning can be made by braking the arms race and moving toward general disarmament, mankind will have turned a corner of history. Although the difficulties and frustrations are of the Presidents great, the task of achieving disarmament is not an impossible one. Each day its importance and urgency increases.

The U.S. Delegation headed by Ambassador Arthur H. Dean, returns to Geneva with instructions to pursue the objective of negotiating a sound disarmament program. The full support of the Government and people of the United States is behind this effort.

We cannot and must not underestimate the difficulties which are presented by the Soviet Union's resistance to the minimum of inspection necessary to ensure effective disarmament steps. The renewed sessions in Geneva present one more opportunity to persuade the Soviet Union that in a nuclear age, all nations have a common interest in preserving their mutual security against the growing perils of the arms race.

In the resumed negotiations the United States will continue to seek agreement which will meet the dangers of the nuclear threat. These dangers will only increase if early action is not taken to halt the growth of stockpiles of modern armaments, the spread of nuclear weapons into the arsenals of a widening number of countries and to outer space, and the possibilities of outbreak of war by accident, miscalculation, or failure of communication.

As these vital negotiations resume, we express our hope that the USSR will respond constructively to the proposals we have made and will join with us and the other members of the Geneva conference in a creative search for ways to end the arms race and to devote our common skills and resources to the enlargement of the peaceful opportunities of mankind.