Black Clouds Painted In

One fact emerged last week as plain and sharp as a good photograph: no disarmament agreement is going to be signed in London's Lancaster House this summer. Valerian Zorin. Soviet delegate, took care of that at the 61st gathering this year around the green table. To the four Western nations, this was the moment for Zorin to reply to John Foster Dulles' proposals for aerial zones of inspection (TIME, Aug. 12). But. after complaining that the Dulles proposal failed to include all U.S. bases in Asia and Africa, Zorin returned to two of the most tired themes of Soviet propaganda: if there is to be disarmament, all NATO and Communist Warsaw Pact troops must be withdrawn from foreign soil in Europe, and all foreign military bases must be liquidated. He reiterated the Soviet insistence on a quick three-stage reduction of armed forces.

If Zorin really meant what he said about withdrawing foreign troops, there was little hope of agreement. The U.S. and Britain have repeatedly made it clear that full-scale disarmament can only come after settlement of the political issues which necessitated arming in the first place, and they have specifically assured Chancellor Konrad Adenauer that German reunification is one such issue.

The U.S., British. French and Canadian delegations interpreted Zorin's remarks as propaganda aimed at next month's German elections. It was obvious that until after Germany votes, the public meetings in London are going to prove little. Even the ever-ebullient U.S. Negotiator Harold Stassen seemed a little discouraged after Soviet Delegate Zorin declared, "The optimistic picture that Mr. Stassen painted for us far from exists."

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