THE PRESIDENT had lunch with the Foreign Secretary Lord
Home, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Ambassador to the United States Ormsby
Gore, Under Secretary of State George Ball and Ambassador David Bruce.
They met for two hours. The discussions centered on Berlin, the Congo and
Cuba.
The conversations which Lord
Home and Mr. Rusk had had with Mr. Gromyko in New York were reviewed. There
was complete agreement on the assessment of the dangers of the Berlin situation
and on the continued need for the Western powers to stand firm on their
vital interests.
They agreed on the urgent need
for a settlement of the continuing Congo crisis on the basis of the reconciliation
plan proposed by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
They agreed on the serious nature
of developments in Cuba and they discussed ways and means of containing
further Communist expansion and subversion in the Caribbean.
The President and the Foreign
Secretary confirmed their support for the early signature of a test ban
agreement.
They also agreed on the strong
necessity for the signatories of the Geneva Accord on Laos to see to it
that all foreign forces are withdrawn from that country by October 7th.