'- REPROO JCEtSAT THE NATiONAI ARCHIVES DECL t SSIFIED Authority n__ _ Jf JJ JJ ' L Nh lU Date ML I 1H 1 l P DEP n f'tf'n'r NT r p1 f f NU uter _L or J lcop1e5 rl s · ' Ibis docm nt ccr - t r OF STATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY PlJR TO The Secxretary THROUGH' s s 1 BUBJJOOT Atanic Stookpile Neg tiations with Italy Negotiations have been in progrese vi th Italy tor an atomic etoekpile agreement since the BUJ11D1er ct 19 9 1he purpose of the agreement is to set forth the eonditiona and arrangements under which vis nuclear weapons wwld be deployed to Ital 7 in support of both Italian and u s forces assigned to NATO Italy bas already reoeived nuclear oapable deliver systems for vbioh nuclear warhead 1111 pport ia l 8quired to implsnent tully SA Cl XJR1 a plans tor NATO def'enaa 1he Italian Government bu pemitted the u s to iD trodu oe nuclear weapons into Ita l 7 under an inf'cmna L understanding However the It anan Govermaent bas indicated its strong desire to conclude formal arrangement• tor a nuclear weapons stockpile We have reached a or Ltical stage in our negotiations with Italy We believe rapid conclusicm of this agreement 1s a matter of major importance to our relations with Italy and te the readinees ot NATO forces 1n Italy during this period of ar l eis over Berlin The Italians are waiting for our response an two major unresolved issues A third and lesser issue involVing coat ITqements will we hope be reaolved by current technical diseuasiona with the Italians Cb the two major issues the Department ha• reached positions which it has passed to Defense Department staffs tor urgent ceordination We understand informally frcm Defense stat ts that there mq be difficulty- in obta j ni pg Defense concurrence in our positions particol arly on the expedited basis we believe desirable I have · telephoned Defense mysel f' to communicate our sense of urgency Howwr we believe it is desirable that 7011 sign the attached latter TAB A to the Secretary of Detenee wbich confirms our ·a1re tor urgent action and seta forth our basic arguments sapporting our p aitie na on the two major CJ11 tstand1ng issues or the two major issues the most important 11 the Italian request r an arrangement whioh would provide for obtaining Italian Government b R nsent prior to the use of uy nuclear weapon• in Italy '1he second question • IV the Italian desire tor greater assurance that the Italian Government nai- __ -- jJa conwl ted in regard to deeiaions on numbers of nuclear weapons whioh R ould be stored in Italy under the stockpile agreement The Departm t _____ §__lieves that we ahoul d prompt17 and graoetul 17 indicate to e Italiarui S 'Cat t we are prepared to meet their desires on these two points General ---· - - --- oratad believes ve should aecede to the Italian quests se long u r ertain operational conditions are satisfied _· - · c-0 fJ r · t 1 1 Recommendatio • i ' 7 - 4 @d 'i«efc- f j 4614 40 - '1- 44id SECRET t J ' REPRODUCED A TTHI NATIONAL ARCIWES DECLASSIFIED i Authority J li Z yq N RA D a t e---- SECRET -2- Recommendation Tbat you sign the letter to the Secretary or Defense TAB A which desmbes the urgency ot oonoluding rapidly the current negotiations with Itaq- tor u atomic stockpile agreement and preseats views of the Department on proposed u s positions toward the major unresolved issues ill the negotiatiions Attachment l TAB A - Proposed Letter to Secretary ot Def'GBe -»- 0c' obe-r Concurrence a s P - l 8L L SFP - Mr Cbayea 4 Mr Owen -- 4 S AE - Mr Orwick _ RA - Mr Fe • aenden£ · P er WE - Mr• -Brown EUR - Mr Tyle · G PM - Mr Newman I SECRET Uear nob We haft reached a critical at age 1n our negotiations for an atcmic stockpile agreement 'With Italy Rapid conclusion of t his agreement has becaae a iaat ter or IIUljor 1iqportance to our relations vi t h I tal 7 and to the readineae of l ATO tore ea in l tal 7 during this period of crisis over Berlin I thought that a of our views on tJl8 issues NmaiDing in the negotiations might £acili tate conaideration or the queetione within the De renee Department A dratt message to our l abaaay in ttaae with instructions on these issues haea been -provided to ilef'ense atafta for urgent coordination 'f hree unreaolfld problems remain in the negotiations i'irst and moat blportant ia the Italian request tor an arrangement which woul d provide tor obtaining Italian uoftrrunent ccmsent prior to the use or aey- nuclear wapona in It l J econd is t he Jt-alian desire to part icipate 1110re directJ y in detenli ning the number ot atcrnic weapons which would be atored in Italy under the etockpile agreement 'l'b1 rd ia Italian acceptance ot certain costs under the agreeaent On this last paint we hope t hat t echnical talks which are being arranged w lth the l t al1ana on the costs question will lead to rapid resolution ot this matter As tor the first and most illlportant point we believe that the United Stetee should agree pranptlJ to the r talian reqwt t tor a formal underatand1D£ which provides tor obtaining the consent of t he Italian Govwnroent prior to t he use of aI'7 n lolear wapons in Italy We l Nady' have vri tu uruleret and1ng'I with the United 'Kingdom and france vbich 1D ettect bind ua to the obligation Howner 1 our agrecaent With l'ranoe does not now at feet uN ot United tates nuclear weapons since as you know France hae not yet accepted United tatea nuclear weapons on its territol'J'• 'ibe polio directive AJIA'l't and the A tlmtic llatlona'' which grew out ot the A cbea011 reocm- melldations and wae approved bJ' stipulates that 1 ne concept ot cont to our intereata aJld ot Unitad Statea nucleu power the Preaident on April 21 1961 such a cc naent 'lgreement is not that 1 t is not •1988ntial that the part deplOJ'ed in be veto-tree It ie The ltonorable s t c NaMra t ary of Detense i obert REPROOUC o AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES It is therefore our 'Viev that assurances of this t1P• cannot to a boat country which requeate it and which attaches political importance to it In our view there 1• political impor• tance in the Italian oue in the United states agreeing quickl f and graoetul 17 to a oansent11 a gNel1181lt The Italian oi' ioiala haw nggeeted that t be 11oonnnt to use agreement tol1ow the pattern of 1ihe JUP Ttlt INBM 8 1'881118Dt with Ital7 whioh alreaq pron des tor the ooneent ot Italian uovemm ent prior to launching be refused these missiles stationed in Ita17 0- ral Noretad agrees vith the neecl for accecli ng to the ltelian request ueneral Naratad has alao stated hie view that it ia essential that an oon9ent to UM agreement reached with Ital ' not haTe the etteot ot i'urther celllpl ioaUng operational ccnaand arranganenttt l•le strongly npport thie n•w• and have alr S m ade cl ear to Italian oi ticial11 that we believe it would be higbl Y undesirable to establish additional C0111plioa 1 ng oammand arrange111entu tor oontroll 1ng the 11• ot nuolear weapons On tih• basin of preliminar - disouaalcns with Italian otficiela on their conaent to use proposal and nnoe the Italian Govern•nt half not aought cOlllpllcating cCIIIIUlnd arrangelllellU lmd•r the JUl'I'lhR agre8118nt we doubt that Italian attict ale w1ll seek to establish nch undesirable arrangements under the prQpoeed consent understandin • Jeneral Norstad haa qgested that in our reaponae o ltallan proposal• tor a con•ent to t1N ap-eement we abould aeek Italian agreement to language which pro 'idu i'or consultation rather than agreementn with the Italian authorities HoweYer the Itlll iane have epeoUically propc ed that the word agre81'1811t11 be used we belieYe ve should repeat the tormula alreaq used in the JL'l'f '11 1 'li agN811lent and ve oppose qgening that an underat anding on conHnt to uae be baaed on a vuker comitment on our part There might be operation al di tt1oult1•• also if th ere were d1screpanciea in the 11 language of theae two lllderstanclinga - a believe that the United states should also agne promptly to a tomal understanding with Ltal 7 vnich would deal with Italian deaiNa for greater as8Uranoe that the Italian Government ia t li ly oonaultecl in regard to decisions on n'llDlbera ot nuolear weapons which would be etored in ltal T under the stQckpile agreement Our i mbasa7 has trted to reaa1Rll'9 I tali an oftioiala that appropriate Italian authoritiea do partioipat e iihrough N A'l J planning in detvmin1ng mimbera and purp088a ot atcnd c weapons to be etond in Italy However w belien we should go •• tar aa we oan to aatisfy' Italian inabtence tor a JaON tormal assurance in this regard 'e believe such uauranoe can be given in a tom vhioh has lllinimal eft'ect upon existing NATO procedure•• In the • REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAi ARCHIVES In the draft instructions to our l mbaaay in tf offle which we haw passed to llefenee atai'ta for coordination we propoee that the understandinge vith I t concerning a consent to use fonllllla and deoleions on mmbere of wapona be contained in dOOUllenta separate 1'r0111 t he stookpile agre t 1teelt Thie approach ahould help to avoid the establishment or nuv complicating OCXIIIWld a r rang8111811ta and to reduce the poaibilit7 that any apeoial arrangenente in this stockpile agre811lent might beoCdlle kn011n to other countries with wnan we have concluded sbdlar stockpile agreflJl'lent•• new In conclunon we concur in the ot Ambassador tteinherdt that it would be JQOet unfonunate if we were to persist in poaitiona in these neiotiations which miy bt undend ne the Yi tal baai s ot mutual trwrt llhich hu ex l eted in the atosdc wapon 11 tield vt th Italy up to now he tears that dela -e in concluding theee negot iat ions J1YQ' already haw arouaed unwarranted Italian euap1c1ona our intentions Aooordingly l belten we should nd as • oon •• posaible the instructions mbaaay Rane which incorporate our ebow news on at pa wilicn we believe are necessary to oonalude proirtptl¥ the at GIiio stockpile negotiations with ltal 7 with 11amest pel'80llu regarw Host sincerely 1 illleaa Dean Ruak S S· RO OCT 9 1961 A S P • 't A Mr 0nn draft S AE - Hr Om ck dratt vr RA - Mr Fessenden dratt · 1 L SFP copy of si ned original J --f J f Mr ifte- dratt WE • - Mr 3 '-o ler _ f ' EUR l NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu Read related article The U S Nuclear Presence in Western Europe 1954-1962 Part II 2020-09-17