Page 304

304          DOCUMENTS ON GERMANY, 1944-59
The Government of the United States notes that the Government
of the Federal Republic shares the desire expressed in the resolution
of the German Legislature and that it hopes-that this group will study
proposals concerning the re-establishment of German unity and carry
out the preparatory work necessary for final negotiations to be held
at a later date.
The Government of the United States welcomes the initiative of
the Federal Government. As the latter is aware, the German prob-
lem is an important element in the proposals put forward by the
Western Powers to the Soviet Government on May 28 for an agenda
for a meeting of Heads of Government. The preparatory talks in
Moscow for such a meeting, mentioned in the Federal Republic's
Aide Memoire, have been in suspense since the end of May because
of the Soviet Government's failure to reply to the Western proposal
of May 31 for overcoming the procedural difficulty caused by the di-
vergence in the Soviet and Western sets of agenda proposals. Addi-
tional efforts to obtain a response, made by the Western Powers on
July 1 and August 22, have also so far been to no avail.
The Western Powers continue to hold that a summit meeting would
be desirable if it would provide opportunity for serious discussions
of major problems and if it would be an effective means of reaching
agreement on significant subjects. The Government of the United
States hopes that the Soviet Government will now reply to the, West-
ern proposal so that the preparatory talks which would cover the im-
portant question of Germany, may continue. At the same time, in
view of the crucial importance of the settlement of the German prob-
lem to the relaxation of world tensions, the Government of the United
States is also prepared to discuss the German problem in a separate
Four Power group to be set up in accordance with the desire of the
Federal Government expressed in its Aide Memoire of September 9.
The Government of the United States has constantly sought to
bring about the creation of a freely-elected all-German Government
which would be ti uly representative of the German people and which
would conclude a peace treaty. Until such a Government is created
the continued division of Germany maintains a situation in which a
segment of the German people is forced to suffer the oppression of a
regime imposed on it from without.
For a long time, efforts to resolve German questions have been
thwarted by the refusal of the Soviet Government to agree to any
plan which would make reunification possible in a way which would
insure the freedom of the whole German people. Once a freely-
elected all-German Government truly representative of the German
people has been created, it would be possible to proceed with such
a Government to the conclusion of a peace treaty. The Government
of the United States is informing the Soviet Government of its sup-
port of the initiative of the Federal Republic and urging the Soviet
Government to give it favorable consideration.