YouSaid · the spoken record

GROMYKO

lines on the record: 1,518
first: 1957-09-24
most recent: 1984-09-24
sittings or episodes: 22
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“This letter states: “...Let us, therefore, make this quite clear, for any misunderstandings and equivocal statements are most dangerous things in such matters. “An attack on the People's Republic of China, which is a great friend, ally and neighbour of our country, is an attack on the Soviet Union. Loyal to its duty, our country would do everything to defend, jointly with People's China, the security of both countries and the interests of peace in the Far East and throughout the rest of the world.” The actions of the United States in the area of the Taiwan Strait, and its whole policy towards People's China, are arousing protests throughout the world and among the closest allies of the United States.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The United States Government is acting rashly in uttering threats and in embarking on adventures in its policy towards People's China. Those who are behind the military provocations against China appear to have forgotten that China is a mighty Power, whose people stand firmly behind their Government and have already considerable experience in repelling foreign usurpers. 85. It must not be forgotten that China is not alone; that the People's Republic of China has true allies ready to come to its aid at any moment in order to rebuff the aggressor by concerted efforts; and that among these allies is the Soviet Union. I take the liberty of recalling the words of N. S. Khrushchev, Prime Minister of the USSR, in a letter of 7 September 1958 to Mr. Eisenhower, the President of the United States.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The Chinese people have not asked the United States Government to assume any obligations whatsoever with regard either to Taiwan or to any other part of China's territory. Hence in a statement issued by Chou En-lai, the Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, on 6 September on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China it is stated with entire justification that no so-called treaty concluded between the United States and the Chiang Kai-shek clique has any validity whatsoever for the Chinese people and can In no circumstances legalize the aggressive acts of the United States. 84. Let there be no mistake about the true meaning of the United States Government's present actions in the Far East and the consequences they are bound to have unless they are stopped in time.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Anyone who folded his hands and failed to set his face firmly against the current provocative acts of the United States in the Far East would range himself alongside those United Kingdom, French and United States leaders who showed indulgence towards the aggressor on the eve of the Second World War, who abetted him, and who bear a heavy responsibility towards history and towards the peoples of the world for the unleashing of that war. 83. The attempts to give the actions of the United States against China a semblance of "legality" by referring to the treaty obligations of the United States to Chiang Kai-shek are just as unconvincing. From the legal standpoint this "argument" carries no more weight than would that of a man who picked someone’s purse on the pretext that he was under an obligation to give the money to somebody else.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Juggling with universally known historical facts, they do not even flinch from referring to the lamentable memory of the Munich Agreement of the Western Powers with Hitler, asserting that they are intervening in China's affairs and threaten the People's Republic of China because they do not want another "Munich". But who can fail to see that connivance at United States aggression against the Chinese people, in the form, in particular, of the seizure of Taiwan and the attempts to extend the aggression to the off-shore islands of China, would indeed be a repetition of "Munich"?”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“We can hardly expect to find, anywhere in the world, people who are fools enough to believe that considerations of "defence" have prompted the United States to seize alien lands over 10,000 kilometres from United States territory. We can only ask what the Government of the United States would have said if another State had seized, say, Long Island, which lies at the entrance to the port of New York, and held it by force of arms, allegedly in the interests of its own defence. 82. But what false arguments aggressors use in order to absolve themselves!”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Republic of China, For the United States Secretary of State and its President, Mr. Eisenhower, have "recognized" that these islands are "required in insuring the defence" (their own words) of Chiang Kai-shek and the "security" of the United States, and in this connexion they declare that the United States has "deployed its armed forces" for action against the People's Republic of China. 81. References to "considerations of the defence" and "security" of the United States, which are still being used in leading United States circles in an attempt to cloak the activities of the United States in relation to China, are so absurd as scarcely to require refutation.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“But McElroy was not the only one. The very "heaviest artillery" was brought to bear in Washington. The United States Secretary of State made, in the course of a few days, a series of statements which, on the most indulgent interpretation, can only be regarded as an open, gross threat of force against the People's Republic of China. 80. The Government of the United States not only continues to excuse United States occupation of the island of Taiwan, but presumes to go even further: it is arbitrarily establishing some sort of sphere of interest and even zone of operation for its armed forces in other parts of China's territory, more particularly in relation to the off-shore group of islands which lie within the territorial waters of mainland China and cover the approaches to the ports and largo cities of the People's.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Thus Vice Admiral Roland Smoot, commanding the United States forces on Taiwan, stated in public not long ago that the United States, together with the Chiang Kai-shek group, intended to "strike a blow at Communist China", and even promised to "lick" the People's Republic of China. There are even representatives of United States military circles who, having lost all sense of reality, are trying to frighten China with United States atomic weapons. Such statements on the part of United States generals and admirals are obviously a reflection of definite plans entertained in the highest leading circles of the United States. It is not idly that the United States Secretary of Defense, Neil H. McElroy, echoes Smoot and his colleagues, not even flinching from uttering open threats against the People's Republic of China. 79.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“All these military preparations are accompanied by an unbridled campaign of slander and threats against the People's Republic of China on the part of leading political and military figures in the United States, who evidently fail to realize that by acting in this way they merely strengthen still further the determination of the great Chinese people to free Taiwan, their own inalienable territory. That the Chinese people should do this is as inevitable as that night should follow day. 78. The greatest frankness in speaking their minds is often shown by representatives of military circles in the United States, who are not particularly concerned with diplomatic etiquette or political camouflage.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Aircraft carriers, other United States warships and air force units are being transferred to Chinese waters in the Taiwan area from North America and from United States bases in the Philippines, Okinawa, the Hawaiian Islands and even the Mediterranean. United States warships and aircraft continue to trespass upon Chinese territorial waters and air space, while the supply of weapons to the Chiang Kai-shek group is continuing at an intensified rate. 77.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“75. The Government of the United States now threatens to spread the aggression by extending it to the offshore Chinese islands, which lie a few kilometres from the mainland of China and which have been seized by the Chiang Kai-shek agents of the United States. The United States threatens to set its armed forces in motion in order to hinder the People’s Republic of China in its lawful endeavours to liberate these offshore islands. 76. The United States Seventh Fleet, which is in the Taiwan Strait area, is engaging in provocative military demonstrations, cruising in the approaches to the ports of the People's Republic of China. Under the eyes of the whole world, steps are hurriedly being taken to strengthen this fleet.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Less than two months after the intrusion of United States and United Kingdom troops into Lebanon and Jordan, the attention of the whole world is being focused on new dangerous actions on the part of the United States of America, this time in the Far East. 74. What is happening in the Far East? Underlying the menacing situation which has arisen there is the fact that a few years ago the United States committed aggression against China by seizing historic Chinese territory — the island of Taiwan and the archipelago of P'eng-hu — and that it still continues in unlawful possession of these territories. It has converted them into a military base for itself, directed against the People’s Republic of China and other peace-loving States, and is protecting with its weapons a clique of traitors who have fled from the wrath of the Chinese people.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Furthermore, how can; one speak without indignation of What the United Kingdom is presuming to do to two small Arab States — Yemen, and Muscat and Oman? For several years now the population of these countries has been subjected to barbarous raids by British bombers and incursions by British forces. What right has the Government of the United Kingdom — which is a Member of the United Nations and as such bound to respect our Charter — to resort to aggressive acts against these States? Can the United Nations ignore the crimes visited upon Yemen and upon Muscat and Oman? The Soviet delegation considers that the United Nations should have come to the defence of the peoples of these countries by condemning the aggression. 73.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“But how can we talk of free expression of the Algerians' will in connexion with this referendum, when there is in that country an army almost 800,000 strong which is suppressing by fire and the sword the national liberation movement of the Algerian people straggling for their independence? 71. The Soviet delegation considers that at this juncture France would do great service to the cause of world peace by eliminating this dangerous hotbed of war in North Africa. The French Government has every opportunity to do this by entering into direct negotiations with the National Liberation Front in Algeria with a view to resolving the Algerian conflict by peaceful means. This is the only way the war in Algeria can really be ended. 72.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Unless we shut our eyes to evident facts we must recognize that in reality a war is being waged by a vast French army against the well-organized army of, the Algerian National Liberation Front, which is fighting for its country's independence. It brings in its wake the loss of human life, the destruction of material wealth, and untold suffering for the people of Algeria. We think it is high time to put an end to this war, so destructive for Algeria and unpopular even in France itself. 70. There is a good deal of talk these days about the holding of a referendum in Algeria on the new French constitution, the adoption of which will determine Algeria's destiny.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“cold shower which those who engineered the aggression against Lebanon and Jordan received at the Assembly's special session should have sufficed. Yet today we see that it has not entirely deterred those who like to lord it in someone else’s house. It is clear that, whatever the cost, they want to keep United States guns and tanks in the Near East in some guise or other, for example in the guise of a "stand-by United Nations force" and this doer, not apply to the Near East alone. I need hardly point out how greatly support for such plans would endanger the cause of peace and the United Nations itself. 69. The USSR delegation cannot pass over in silence the tragic events which have, been taking place in Algeria for almost four years now.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The United States Government has of late persistently pressed a plan for the establishment of a so-called stand-by United Nations force to be sent into the territory of various States; the champions of this proposal do not even attempt to hide that their primary intention is to send troops yet again into the countries of the Arab East. 68. The Soviet delegation has already clearly stated its attitude to such plans at the recent emergency special session of the General Assembly. They can only be regarded as an attempt, on the part of those who suffered a political setback over their intervention in the Near East, to devise new, partly disguised ways of interfering in the affairs of the Arab countries and other States under cover of the United Nations. Surely, the.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The fact that the United States and the United Kingdom have not yet withdrawn their troops from Lebanon and Jordan entitles us to ask whether they are not planning some sort of provocation as a pretext for further delay in withdrawing those troops. 66. The Soviet delegation reserves the right to request, within the next few days, that the actions of the United States and the United Kingdom in Lebanon and Jordan and the delay in compliance with General Assembly resolution 1237 (ES-III) concerning the withdrawal of their troops should be examined at this session as a separate item if the delay continues. 67.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“And yet, when it became a question of withdrawing them, difficulties of some kind seem to have presented themselves, and for two months now the American and British have been unable to bring themselves to carry out this task, as though their soldiers in Lebanon and Jordan had been stricken with paralysis of the limbs. 65. At the third emergency special session, Mr. Dulles, United States Secretary of State, and Mr. Lloyd, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, lulled us with vague promises that the troops of their countries would be withdrawn. It was easy to see what such promises were worth even then, and during the ensuing period even the most credulous realized that those promises had been used merely as a smoke-screen to conceal completely different plans.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The statement by the United States Government that two of its battalions have been withdrawn from Lebanon has not changed the situation in the slightest, since what is needed is not a reduction in the United States and United Kingdom troops in Lebanon and Jordan, but their complete withdrawal down to the last soldier. 64. We cannot permit the negotiations which the Secretary-General of the United Nations is conducting to be used by the United States and United Kingdom Governments as a screen and a pretext to delay the withdrawal of their troops from Lebanon and Jordan. To put it bluntly, who will believe that the United States and the United Kingdom need anyone's special assistance to "facilitate" the withdrawal of their troops from those two countries? After all, they needed no help when they sent their troops into Lebanon and Jordan.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“That is why the peoples, including our Soviet people, greeted with approval the General Assembly resolution affirming the necessity for the early withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon and Jordan. The time has come to see what action has been taken to comply with this United Nations decision. The Soviet delegation noted that the situation in Lebanon and Jordan has remained virtually unchanged, the foreign occupation of those States is continuing, and no date for the withdrawal of United States troops from Lebanon and United Kingdom troops from Jordan has as yet been set.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“This demand found expression in a unanimously adopted Assembly resolution which spoke of the early withdrawal of United States troops from Lebanon and United Kingdom troops from Jordan [resolution 1237 (ES-III). 62. The immediate withdrawal of United States and United Kingdom troops from the Near East is the first and indispensable conditions which must be fulfilled if that region if. to cease to be a smoking volcano which constantly threatens to inundate many countries and perhaps even the entire world with the lava of war. So long as there are United States soldiers in Lebanon and United Kingdom soldiers in Jordan, there is and will be no peace in the Near East; it would be dangerous to delude oneself on that score. 63.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The United States and the United Kingdom have sent their troops into the territory of Lebanon and Jordan in an effort to establish military, political and economic control over those countries and to pose new obstacles to the consolidation of the Arab peoples' independence. 61. This new aggression by the Western Powers in the Near East produced an outburst of indignation throughout the world and was condemned by the General Assembly. The keynote of the entire third emergency special session of the Assembly was the unanimous demand for the withdrawal of United States and United Kingdom troops from Lebanon and Jordan and the cessation of interference by foreign Powers in the domestic affairs of the Arab States.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The peoples, for their part, have nothing to fear from a reduction of armaments. 58. The Soviet delegation will submit an appropriate draft resolution on the reduction of these State budgets for consideration by the General Assembly in the conviction that a reduction in military expenditures will promote a slackening of the arms race, help to ease international tension, and permit a substantial reduction in the tax burden. 59. These, in the opinion of the Soviet delegation, are the paramount problems in the field of disarmament which await consideration at the present session of the General Assembly. 60. A no less responsible task confronts the United Nations in connexion with the situation in the Near and Middle East. Two great Powers have committed aggression against two small Arab countries.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“We propose that part of the funds released as a result of the reduction in the military sections of budgets should be used to meet the urgent needs of the under-developed countries and that this assistance should be provided on a non-reimbursable basis. The countries which need such aid will themselves undoubtedly be able to determine the most expedient and effective ways of utilizing it — of utilizing it, moreover, not at some distant future date but here and now, and with no conditions of any kind attached. 57. Perhaps some will think that this proposal has its dangerous aspects, that it may lead to the curtailment of military production. But what if this prospect frightens those who have firmly committed themselves to the policy of the arms race and have made the production of instruments of death into a source of profits?”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“At the present session, the Soviet Government proposes that this question should be considered as a separate measure which must be carried out regardless of whether it proves possible to reach an agreement on other disarmament problems. If we wish to find a way out of the vicious circle in which the disarmament negotiations are caught, then it must be broken at some point. 56. The Soviet Government's proposal is to reduce the military budgets of the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France by 10 to 15 per cent and use part of the savings so effected for assistance to the under-developed countries.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“A reduction in armaments inevitably leads to a decrease in budgetary appropriations for that purpose, and, conversely, curtailment of the funds earmarked for military purposes in the budget is a means of ensuring a reduction in armaments. 55. As we know, the proposal for a co-ordinated reduction of the military budgets of States was taken up during the disarmament negotiations, but it must be bluntly stated that the representatives of the Western Powers never had any taste for this proposal. Indeed, it was taken up only in connexion with other questions, and it was precisely this linkage that complicated the task of reaching an agreement on military budgets.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Disarmament is a complex and many-sided problem, and any projected measure in this field affects the most vital interests of States — those of their security. Experience has shown that this problem cannot be solved at one stroke and in its entirety in the present atmosphere of "cold war" and acute distrust among States. In these circumstances, only those who base their entire policy on the continuation of the arms race can refuse to seek measures to check and arrest the accumulation of arms — measures which may be limited at the start, but which are nevertheless concrete and capable of producing results even now. 54. A State's budget reflects as though in a mirror its economic life, its efforts in the area of peaceful construction and in the military sphere.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“They view even the exploration and mastery of the cosmos in terms of filling with weapons the vacuum that girdles the earth. It is not by chance that all manner of literature dealing with a future war in the cosmos has appeared in the Western countries; nor is this by any means a matter of innocuous science-fiction novels, but rather propaganda for an annihilating war among the States which actually exist on our planet. These people think of the cosmos as a place from which atomic and hydrogen bombs hurtle down upon the cities and populated places of belligerents. The Soviet people cannot concur in these views. The Soviet delegation will expand its ideas on this subject in greater detail when the relevant agenda item is under discussion. 53.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The Soviet Government naturally cannot agree to a proposal to ban only intercontinental ballistic missiles, since that would place the Soviet Union in a position of inequality and would be prejudicial to its security. 51. A solution to the problem must be found which will place neither the United States nor the Soviet Union nor any third State in a privileged position and will meet their security interests in equal measure. Such a solution is the banning of the use of cosmic space for military purposes together with the simultaneous elimination of foreign bases on the territories of other countries, above all those of Europe, the Near and Middle East, and North Africa. 52. There are statesmen who believe that the world’s future lies in the accumulation of every possible instrument of destruction.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“But how can the Soviet Union be asked to close its eyes to the fact that the United States has established and is continuing to establish numerous military bases, whose aggressive purposes are frankly stated by United States military as well as political figures, near our frontiers on the territories of foreign countries? 50. When people propose to us that the problem of the peaceful use of cosmic space should be separated from the problems of disarmament, while remaining silent, about the United States bases on the territories of other countries, their designs are all too nakedly apparent. In effect, it is proposed that the Soviet Union should be deprived of effective means of self-defence no one, certainly, will deny that — whereas the United States should retain its military bases.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“There is, of course, nothing surprising in the fact that in the Soviet Government's proposals the problems of the use of cosmic space are indissolubly linked — I repeat "indissolubly linked" — with the problem of the elimination of foreign bases on the territories of other countries. These are in reality simply different aspects of one and the same problem. After all, no one can deny that it is not the intercontinental missiles as such which are dangerous, but rather the atomic warheads with which both intercontinental and shorter-range missiles, not to mention bombers, can be equipped. 49. Of course, various States have different methods of delivering nuclear warheads, and these differences must be taken into account. The United States, for example, is irked by the fact that the Soviet Union has intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Even today, moreover, the International Atomic Energy Agency prefers to deal with papers and resolutions rather than provide practical assistance to countries which need it. 47. In March 1958, the Soviet Government submitted for consideration by the thirteenth session of the General Assembly proposals for the banning of the use of cosmic space for military purposes, the elimination of foreign military bases on the territories of other countries, and international co-operation in the study of cosmic space [A/3818]. In view of the gigantic strides which science is making in the invasion of the cosmos, the Soviet delegation feels that these proposals should be discussed as an important separate item on the agenda of this session. 48.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“In this regard, moreover, a great deal depends on the United Nations, which can and must take the necessary steps to prevent the latest achievements of science from being used for the further expansion of the arms race. 46. The invasion of cosmic space cannot be permitted to redound to the disadvantage of mankind, as happened, for example, in the case of the splitting of the atom, when the opportunities for the peaceful use of atomic energy were disregarded for many years and scientific thought was directed primarily towards the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Long before means were found of harnessing atomic energy in the interests of technological progress, it was put to use in the last stages of the war against Japan.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It is generally acknowledged that the greatest scientific and technical achievement of our age is the launching of artificial earth satellites, which has inaugurated man's invasion of cosmic space. This has infinitely broadened the opportunities for gaining knowledge of the universe around us and subordinating to man's reason and will the mighty forces of nature which he has discovered. 45. Like many other outstanding discoveries, and achievements of scientific thought, however, these achievements can be used to the detriment of mankind as well as for its welfare. Everything depends on what direction is given to the mastery of cosmic space — whether it is directed towards solving the problems of peaceful construction or serves the ends of destruction and war.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I must take exception to this line of thinking. It cannot but contribute to the success of the negotiations among those Powers on which the discontinuance of tests directly depends if the General. Assembly discusses and adopts appropriate recommendations on this question, which is of concern to all States. We are convinced that the Assembly would be doing a disservice to the cause of peace if it placed its reliance on the negotiations among the three Powers and failed to raise its own voice in favour of the immediate discontinuance of nuclear tests. 44. I should now like to turn to a problem to which few people were giving any thought as recently as a year ago, but which is attracting more and more attention at the present time.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It is entering these negotiations with a clear objective and a definite programme: the negotiations must ensure the discontinuance of atomic and hydrogen weapons tests by all States for all time and must not serve as a screen behind which agreement on a general discontinuance of nuclear weapons tests will continue to be sabotaged. We state here and now that this is what the Soviet Union will demand at the forthcoming negotiations, and let no one reproach us if we expose all those who attempt to go on sabotaging agreement on the discontinuance of tests. 43. Perhaps some of the representatives present in this hall will ask why the General Assembly should deal with the question of the discontinuance of nuclear tests if the Powers directly concerned are to open negotiations on that question on 31 October.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“They are trying to link the simple and straightforward question of the discontinuance of tests to other more complicated questions of disarmament, to embroil it in a labyrinth of endless negotiations where at every step the Western Powers themselves have put innumerable obstacles in the way of an agreement. 42. While aware of what, to judge from their present position, can be expected of our partners, the United States and the United Kingdom, the Soviet Government has nevertheless agreed to open negotiations on the discontinuance of nuclear tests with the United States and United Kingdom Governments on 31 October 1958.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“A careful reading of the statement made by the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom on 22 August 1958 will show that there are so many "firstlys”, "secondlys" and "thirdlys" that the crux of the matter, namely, the discontinuance of tests, is completely obscured. Particularly indicative is the fact that one of the conditions put forward is the stipulation that the period of suspension of testing should be limited to only one year, and extension of the one-year agreement to be contingent upon the attainment of "satisfactory progress" — I repeat "satisfactory progress" — towards the settlement of the general problem of disarmament. Yet just one of those conditions is sufficient to demolish the assertions of the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom that they are ready to discontinue nuclear tests.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Just a short time ago they were asserting that they could not discontinue tests because it was allegedly impossible to ensure control over implementation of an agreement on the discontinuance of test explosions. Today they themselves are obliged to admit that the detection of nuclear explosions from a distance does not present any particular difficulties, yet they still refuse to discontinue tests. If we failed to get anywhere with the control question, these people reason, let us try some other way of complicating the attainment of agreement to discontinue test explosions. Thus we are confronted with a whole host of excuses and preliminary conditions. 41.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“At the recently concluded Conference of Experts to Study the Possibility of Detecting Violations of a Possible Agreement on the Suspension of Nuclear Tests, held at Geneva, eminent scientists, specialists in atomic research from eight countries, made a comprehensive study of the possibilities of detecting nuclear explosions and reached the unanimous conclusion that it would be entirely practicable and feasible to establish control over nuclear tests. 40. Yet the advocates of continued nuclear tests are not daunted by the fact that their assertions run counter to the conclusions of both science and common sense. It apparently causes them little embarrassment that the position which they hold today is in direct contradiction to the line they were taking only yesterday.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“A/3896] lead us to fear that they would rather go on assuming full responsibility for preventing a positive solution of the question of a general renunciation of nuclear test explosions than discontinue their testing of atomic and hydrogen bombs. 39. All manner of far-fetched and fallacious arguments are being put forward in order to evade agreement on this question. By now everyone realizes the groundlessness of the assertions, which were widely made until very recently, that nuclear explosions could not be detected from a distance and that it would therefore not be feasible to control the observance of an agreement to discontinue tests.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Obviously the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom went a little too far, allowing themselves to be carried away by the idea of continuing to devise and test new types of nuclear weapons while the Soviet Union would sit with folded hands watching what they were doing and would not draw from the situation the appropriate conclusions in the interests of its own security. 38. There is not and cannot be any justification for the refusal of the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom to discontinue testing atomic and hydrogen weapons immediately and unconditionally. Yet the statements made by the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom on 22 August 1958 [A/3895.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Those two Governments did not even make any particular effort to conceal their haste to exploit the discontinuance of testing by the Soviet Union is such a way as to gain certain military advantages for themselves. 37. Such actions on the part of the United States and the United Kingdom have, of course, released the Soviet Union from its pledge not to carry out atomic and hydrogen weapons tests, a commitment which it undertook in the hope that the Western Powers would follow suit.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The facts which are known to all make it plain that the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom do not wish to put an end to nuclear tests or in general to abandon the policy of engaging in an unrestrained atomic arms race. That and that alone explains why the explosions of atomic and hydrogen bombs have not been silenced. 36. The United States Government's answer to the Soviet Union’s discontinuance of test explosions of nuclear weapons was to carry out its largest series of atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific Ocean in the period from April to September 1958. Similarly the United Kingdom Government did not hesitate to carry out test explosions of nuclear weapons.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Indeed, after one of the three "atomic Powers", namely, the Soviet Union, Unilaterally discontinued the testing of all types of nuclear weapons in the spring of 1958, all that was necessary to ensure the discontinuance of test explosions of atomic and hydrogen bombs everywhere and for all time was for the Governments .of the United States and the United Kingdom to respond by following the USSR's example. It is true that if that had been done, the agenda of our session would have been poorer by one item, but it may be presumed that nearly all of those here present would have been quite willing to forgo the item and would have expressed their satisfaction on that score. 35. Why did that not happen? Seek as we may, we cannot find two answers to that question.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The Soviet delegation proposes that the above questions, the solution of which would do much to advance the cause of disarmament and would contribute substantially to the easing of international tension, should be discussed as separate, independent items of the Assembly's agenda. 34. The question of the discontinuance of nuclear weapons tests, which we once again have before us in its entirety, need not in fact have appeared on the Assembly's agenda, for there was ample opportunity to solve it long before the current session.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“In examining the disarmament question at the current session of the General Assembly, the Soviet Government considers that the United Nations should concentrate on the following urgent problems: (1) The immediate and general discontinuance of atomic and hydrogen weapons tests; (2) The banning of the use of cosmic space for military purposes, the elimination of foreign military bases on the territories of other countries and international co-operation in the study of cosmic space; (3) The reduction of the military budgets of the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. 33.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The Soviet delegation submits for consideration by the current session of the General Assembly a memorandum of the Soviet Government on measures in the field of disarmament [A/3929], which outlines a programme embodying specific proposals with regard both to the reduction of armed forces and conventional armaments and to nuclear weapons. Provision is also made for the establishment of the appropriate international control over the implementation of disarmament measures. The Soviet delegation hopes that these proposals will be given due consideration by the Governments of the States represented in the United Nations. 32.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)