Statement by the President on the Expiration of the Voluntary Moratorium on Nuclear Weapons Testing.

THE NEGOTIATIONS with respect to the cessation of nuclear testing have now been in progress for fourteen months. While now recessed, they will soon be resumed. No satisfactory agreement is yet in sight. The prospects for such an agreement have been injured by the recent unwillingness on the part of the politically guided Soviet experts to give serious scientific consideration to the effectiveness of seismic techniques for the detection of underground nuclear explosions. Indeed the atmosphere of the talks has been clouded by the intemperate and technically unsupportable Soviet annex to the report of the technical experts. The distinguished American group of scientists who composed the United States delegation will make public from the verbatim records of the conference the facts which will completely refute this Soviet document.

We will resume negotiations in a continuing spirit of seeking to reach a safeguarded agreement. In the meantime, the voluntary moratorium on testing will expire on December 31.

Although we consider ourselves free to resume nuclear weapons testing, we shall not resume nuclear weapons tests without announcing our intention in advance of any resumption. During the period of voluntary suspension of nuclear weapons tests the United States will continue its active program of weapon research, development and laboratory-type experimentation.