Statement by the President on the Forthcoming Conversations Between Washington, London, and Bonn.

I HAVE appointed Mr. John J. McCloy as the United States representative to the trilateral conversations to be held by the United States, the Federal German Republic and the United Kingdom, which were envisaged in the joint communiqué made by the President and Chancellor Erhard on September 27. It is understood that the other representatives will be Dr. Karl Carstens for the German Federal Republic and Mr. George Thomson for the United Kingdom.

The three Governments have invited Mr. Manlio Broslo, the Secretary General, to discuss with the group at its first meeting the ways in which its work could reinforce and assist NATO force planning already underway.

The purpose of these conversations is to undertake a searching reappraisal of the threat to security and--taking into account changes in military technology and mobility--of the forces required to maintain adequate deterrence and defense in central Europe. The reappraisal will also deal with:

--equitable sharing of defense and other comparable burdens;

--the impact of troop deployments and force levels on the balance of payments of the United States and United Kingdom;

--the effect on the German economic and budgetary situation of measures designed to ameliorate balance of payments problems.

The first trilateral meeting will be held in Bonn, Germany, on October 20, 1966.