My telegram D. No. 2267 20th December. [1]

The Foreign Secretary reports that the Soviet Government have now
accepted the list of States to be invited to the Peace Conference
as in paragraph 1 of my telegram under reference and that at the
informal meeting at Moscow on 21st December the United States
Secretary of State pressed for immediate conclusion of work on
procedure for [reviving] C.F.M. and making peace treaties. The
Foreign Secretary insisted that France should be consulted before
final agreement was reached and published.

2. Mr. Byrnes circulated a revised draft paper and discussion led
to broad agreement on a compromise between the different points of
view. After reference to drafting Committee and some hours of
further discussion provisional agreement was reached on the draft
text in my immediately following telegram [2] which was to be
discussed at a further informal meeting on 22nd December.

3. The Foreign Secretary describes the text as best likely to be
obtainable having regard to the extent to which Mr. Byrnes is
ready to yield to the Soviet point of view for the sake of quick
agreement. Mr. Bevin considers it a reasonable compromise in the
light of absolute necessity of reviving C.F.M. and making progress
towards European settlement. He points to the following
advantages-
1. Deputies of Foreign Ministers will immediately resume work in
London and he hopes to secure inclusion of bracketted passage in
Clause 1(c) providing for this work to be on basis of September
decisions.

2. A peace conference is to be called by C.F.M. as a body of five.

3. We have secured the presence at the peace conference of all
states we wanted and for all five peace treaties.

4. Stage 4 is considerably improved by limitation to final
drafting.

5. Although initially only those states both at war with the
particular enemy and present at the conference will sign peace
treaties these will be sent to all other United Nations at war for
their signature.

4. It is proposed that the text approved at Moscow should be
communicated forthwith to the French and Chinese Governments with
a request for concurrence. Meanwhile the Foreign Secretary is
informing the French Minister for Foreign Affairs [3] and is
urging him to concur, in both the interests of France and of
Europe.

5. Bevin, in asking me to inform you, expresses the hope that the
proposed arrangement will be acceptable to the Dominion
Governments.