Allies Seek To Avoid Ultimatum

Chronicle (Levin), 17 July 1948, Page 5

Allies Seek To Avoid Ultimatum

Received Friday, 7 p.m. LONDON, July 16. The British' Ca'biiiet at- a- tliree-hdur meeting- on Thursday decidecl to have more talks with the Franeo-American Governments bel'ore replying- to- the Russian Note 011 Berlin, and aceording to: the Daily Lxpress's diplomatie eorrespondent no reply is likely tV be sent to Moscbw bel'dre the middle oi' liext nveek at the earliest, and it may be much later. British Ministers, this eorrespondent says, take a serious view of the situation as there is no obvious way out of the deadlock. Oue proposai being considered, he says, is a eompromise plan whicli might' prdv'ide fbt limifed supplies td be allowed by rail and road intd Berlin wliile th'e four Governments coiifer. If such a* prbpbsa'l- were made and rejected, then it is felt in London that there vvould be 110 alternative but to renevv the demand for ihe lifting oi the blockade with a tiriie liinit ior complianee. The thr'ee Western Governments, the eorrespondent adds, are anxious to avoid this situation and talks are now going on to find" a way of preventing any form oi "ultimatum" being sent. The Daily Telegraph's diplomatie eorrespondent says the Soviet reply is interpreted in London as meaning that the Russians are determined to continue their bloekade oi Berlin indefinitely unless the Western Powers suspend their plans ior the unifieation oi Western Germany aiid reopen the German peace treaty negotiations which would eover the Gerihan probleni as a whole. There is no evidenee that the Western Powers would agree to such a reversal oi pdlicy, the eorrespondent adds. * Unless the tension over' Berlin deereases it is understood the Government will adjourn Parliament instead oi proroguing it at the end oi July for the summer r'ecess. The reason is that if it is adjourned members can be recalled in a erisis within 24 hours, whereas if Parliament stands prorogued it ean be recalled only by Royal Proelamation and it would take at least three days before members could meet. General Alexandrov, head of the Soviet air braneh, is reported to be seeking Moscow approval of a plan for elosing two of the three air eorridors into Berlin and' for reducing the tliird crtrridor's width from twentv miles to ten.

A high-ranking Rgssian Politieal oiii - cer lo Id. leading Berlin Communists 111 ,i private lneeting tliat the \\ estern Powers would be foreed to leave Berlin in eight weeks "if eertain gaps in tlie blockade ean be efTectively elosed,' says Keuter's Berlin eorrespondent. The officer said that,- wliatever action ihe Western allies took following receipt of llje Kussian Note, there could be 110 change in the Russian policy regarding Berlin. lie added' that Marshai Sokolovsky had just returnecl from Moscow with new instruclions from Mn. Stalin. The eorrespondent says German politieal circles in elose contaet with Kussian headquarters indicated tlu* "cerlain gaps" to which the olheer referred were the three air eorridors ieading into Berlin from the Westein Zones. Twelve Kussian Yak lighters yesterdav made a " deiuonsiration ' flighi .over Gatow airport, in the British se«tor of Berlin. They Hew over the runways as Briti-o. and American supply planes were land ing and lakiug off', but the DailHerald's Berlin eorrespondent says no British protest is contemplated, as ihKussian maehines were not in forma tion and liew at a safe height. Keuter's diplomatie eorresponden; says the nature of the Soviet replv to the Allies' protest inakes it elear that the seeond pliase of the battle of nerves for Berlin has now opened. It is obvious that the Soviet leaders are not anxious for a new meet ing of th>* Couneil of Foreign Ministers. They are now putting less emphasis 011 four Power talks on the control of the whole of Germany. Their objeelive is to force the Western Powers out of Berlin, and they say, in eff'eet, that Britain, the Fnited States and France now have no reason to be in Berlin, which must be eontrolled by Kussia.