§ 48. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the nature, scope and result of recent conversations and communications with the Governments of the United States of America and Russia relating to the making, detection, and abandonment of nuclear tests.
§ Mr. SmithersApart from the talks which have been continuing at Geneva within the framework of the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee, the last communications with the United States and Soviet Governments on this subject were those of 27th and 28th October between President Kennedy, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, and Mr. Khrushchev. These refer to the need for an early agreement on disarmament and the banning of nuclear tests. Her Majesty's Government earnestly hope that Mr. Khrushchev's recent statements betoken a genuine desire to look realistically at the substance of this problem and thus to open the way to an agreement on the ending of nuclear tests in all environments; but there has been no sign of such an attitude on the part of the Soviet delegation at Geneva, who continue to block all our attempts at a solution.