Letter to Nikita Khrushchev, Chairman, Council of Ministers, U. S. S. R., on the Meeting of Experts To Discuss Nuclear Detection Methods.

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I have your letter of May 9, 1958. I note with satisfaction that you accept, at least partially, my proposal that technical persons be designated to ascertain what would be required to supervise and control disarmament agreements, all without prejudice to our respective positions on the timing and interdependence of various aspects of disarmament.

Your letter of May ninth states that "the Soviet Government agrees to having both sides designate experts who would immediately begin a study of methods for detecting possible violations of an agreement on the cessation of nuclear tests with a view to having this work completed at the earliest possible date, to be determined in advance."

Experts from our side will be prepared to meet with experts from your side at Geneva, if the Swiss Government agrees, within three weeks of our learning whether these arrangements are acceptable to you. On our side, experts would be chosen on the basis of special competence. I have in mind, for example, experts who might be contributed not only from the United States, but from the United Kingdom which, like the Soviet Union and the United States, has conducted nuclear tests, and from France, which has advanced plans for testing, and possibly from other countries having experts who are advanced in knowledge of how to detect nuclear tests. We assume that the experts on the side of the Soviet Union would be similarly chosen on the basis of special competence, so as to assure that we get scientific, not political, conclusions.

I also suggest that the experts should be asked to make an initial progress report within thirty days after convening and to aim at a final report within sixty days or as soon thereafter as possible.

In view of the Charter responsibilities of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations in the field of disarmament, we would propose to keep the United Nations and its appropriate organs informed of the progress of these talks through the intermediary of the Secretary General.

I will write you further shortly regarding your statements on the problem of surprise attack and the Arctic Zone of inspection which we have proposed.

Sincerely,

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER