Statement by the President on the Proposed Multilateral NATO Nuclear Force.

I AM pleased to announce that Career Ambassador Livingston Merchant, one of our most distinguished diplomats, has agreed to take the leadership of the preparation and negotiation of United States proposals with respect to the NATO multilateral force. He will assist Ambassador Finletter in discussions in the North Atlantic Council.

The negotiations to be carried out in conjunction with the study of this subject in the North Atlantic Council are an outgrowth of the agreement between myself and Prime Minister Macmillan, at Nassau on December 21st, that our two governments would seek the development of a multilateral NATO nuclear force in the closest consultation with other NATO allies.

The other members of the team will be Mr. Gerard C. Smith, former Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Planning, who headed a State Department-Department of Defense mission which visited Europe to discuss the problems of a multilateral force with our allies in the fall of 1962, and Rear Admiral John M. Lee, representing the Department of Defense, who also participated in that mission. These three principal negotiators will be supported by an appropriate staff.