-CONFIDENTIAL ... SCENARIO FOR IMPLEMENTING THE ROSTOW-DUCKWITZ PROPOSALS The United States is prepared to make a statement at the time of signing the NPT, reaffirming the continuing commitments of the United States under existing treaties of mutual security. The President would be willina to 0 make the statement, if this is desired. We would use the language 0 under existing treaties of mutual securityn as a means of meeting the needs not only of our NATO allies on this score, but of all those countries with which the United States is bound in alliance. We also intend to include a statement of this kind in the testimony to be presented to the United States Senate during advise and consent hearings. We would urge the United Kingdom to make a statement along similar lines. It is our thinking that we would also urge other NATO members, at the time they signed the Treaty, to make state­ments similar to those of the United States and United Kingdom, with perhaps more specific reference to the North Atlantic Treaty than we, with our world-wide system of alliance, can properly make in the context of signing the NPT. We believe it more effective for the non-nuclear NATO members to make the second point in the Rostow to Duckwitz letter of March 30--that it is the existence of the North Atlantic Treaty and the security it provides to its members that makes possible their adherence to the NPT under current world conditions--in the NAC forum, rather than at the actual signing of the NPT. We and the British would then take note of these statements and recall in this connection our respective reaffirmations of our commitments under existing treaties of mutual security. In doing so, we would refer specifically to our commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty. We would repeat views similar to those -CONFIDENTIAf.­ -CONFIDENTIAL -2­ expressed by the President on February 19 during Secretary General Brosio's visit to Washington, re­lating to the necessity of maintaining NATO's strength to ensure continuing stability and security in the North Atlantic area. Further, we would declare the intention of the United States Government to continue to adhere to its North Atlantic Treaty commitments as long as this is necessary and desired by our allies. The United States and United ~ingdom would make their declarations either in the NAC, the DPC, or, if the timing were convenient, at a NATO Ministerial Conference. With regard to presenting the above course of action to the members of NATO, we would suggest that the United States approach the United Kingdom bilaterally to seek its support for the proposal. We would also suggest that the FRG do the same with Italy, and that the plan then be presented to the NAC as a joint FRG­Italian proposal, which the United States, and hopefully the United Kingdom, would then promptly endorse. ' -CONFIDENT:ttrl:;