PEACE CONFERENCE DATE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24909, 24 June 1946, Page 5

PEACE CONFERENCE DATE

Discussion By Foreign Ministers MR MOLOTOV OPPOSES U.S. PROPOSAL (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, June 23. "The United States Secretary of State (Mr Byrnes), at the foreign Ministers’ Conference, made an unsuccessful proposal to call a European peace meeting on July 15, but Mr Molotov objected on the grounds that the draft treaties were not yet completed,” says the Paris correspondent of the Associated Press. “Mr Byrnes argued that July 15 would give the Foreign Ministers sufficient time to examine the remaining items on the agenda. " ‘Even if agreement is not reached on all points, we are already so near agreement on many points that there would be no harm in submitting the outstanding questions to the Peace Conference,’ said Mr Byrnes. “Mr Bevin compromised by proposing that the final decision on calling the Peace Conference should be postponed for a week. ‘We cannot indefinitely exclude other Allied nations from the peace table,’ he said. ‘lf we cannot agree, we should admit it frankly and ask for outside help. Other nations who fought by our side have a contribution to make to the peace treaties. They should be given some hope that the Peace Conference will be held soon.’ ” The Paris correspondent of the Exchange Telegraph Agency stated that a proposal by Mr Bevin that the Italian and Balkan jeace treaties should be finished by June 28 and that the Ministers should meet twice daily to complete them was agreed to. The Foreign Ministers also agreed to discontinue secret meetings and make their discussions available to the press. The problem of Trieste was not discussed and was deferred until next week.