NUCLEAR TEST
At the opening session of the test ban conference which resumed in Geneva onarch, chief Soviet delegate S. K. Tsarapkin Introduced twonew Issues. Insteadingle administrator for the control system, hehree-member administrative council composed offrom the West, the bloc, and neutral states. The USSR last summer hadompromise plan offered by thea neutral administrator
I first deputy, plus two
deputies each from the West and the bloc.
Tsarapkin justified this reversal by referring to the role of the UN secretaryln the Congo, andriumvirate was necessary to protect the interests of the three powersimilar situation. He made it clear that the three-member council would actnit, thereby granting theeto over the operation of the system.
For the first time, the Soviet delegate raised theof French testing. up similar statements by Khrushchev and other Sovietprior to the resumption of negotiations, Tsarapkinthat the Western powers were prolonging the talksevice to permit French testing and toilitaryfor NATO over the USSR. He expressed the Soviet Union's "great preoccupation" over French testing and stated that French actions would "reduce to naught" the possibility of agreement andreaty "pointless."
BAN TALKS
He called on the Western powers to draw the appropriate conclusions, and insisted that the communique distributed after the meeting include the statement that the Soviethadserious warning" of the "negative of French testing on the conference. In anwith the East German news service, Tsarapkin declared, "We cannot permit this state of affairs to continue." he did not formallythat France join the negotiations.
The Soviet delegate opened the first sessionong statement reaffirming the Soviet position on allissues and blaming the West for failure to reach agreement. He made no effort to comment on the details of the newbut told thefterward that "at this late stage" there still seemed to be "too manyand "too many ifs" in the American approach. the second meeting onarch, Tsarapkin told the press that the new American proposals were almost the same as former positions and contained "very little movement."
ackground briefing for bloc correspondents onarch, Tsarapkin said the USSR would not yield on the number of on-site inspections. He also termed the new Western proposal for East-West parity on the controlunsatisfactory, since the West could "easily buy off" the additional neutral members.
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Tsarapkin's statements provide further evidence that the USSR is losing interestreaty. In view of thepowers' long-standingto self-inspectioneto power over the control system's operation, the Soviet leaders are undoubtedly aware that the proposalhree-member administrative council would be unacceptable. is also fully aware,esult of his talks with De Gaulle in the springhat France is not likely to adhereest ban without an over-all destruction of stockpiles. The USSRmay be using the French question and tbe proposalripartite administrative councilretext forto conclude an
Tbe generally negative attitude of the chief Soviet delegate was foreshadowed in the line taken by Khrushchev and other Soviet officials prior to the resumption of the talks. In addition to the Sovietremarks to Ambassador Thompsonarch, Soviet Ambassador Soldatov told
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the negotiations were notand that no progress had been made since the discussions between the foreign ministers at Geneva
Tsarapkin, in awith the Austrianwas pessimistic over the outcome of the talks. He said reports from Washington were not hopeful, and that nocould be expected from the Sovietside on the main issues.
the
Soviet officials ln Paris followed up Khrushchev'sto Ambassador Thompson on the need for French adherencereaty. Tbe Sovietcounselor told an American official that while the USSR was willing to make someat tbe talks, tbe question remained of what would happen if an agreement were reached and France continued to test. Soviet officials also are reported to haveimilar^oslt^oit^B^ talks with
in Paris.
Pre-conference propaganda, however, was more reserved. Soviet broadcasts quotedKennedy and Ambassador Dean on the "serious andUS attitude toward tbe talks and found some ground for "optimism" that thesestatements would beby deeds a mutuallypact. Moscow made lt clear, however, that theof thesensible" approach by all the participants,the US."
As the talks resumed,propaganda commentatorsto refer increasingly to grounds for concern over the success of the talks. Tsarapkin's opening remarks were widely broadcast, with emphasis on the proposalripartitei^st-
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