USSR Speech by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR,
Mr Aleksey Kosygin, at a dinner in honour of the Prime Minister of
Australia in Moscow on 14 January 1975
The official visit of Prime Minister Whitlam to
the Soviet Union and Soviet-Australian talks
which have begun in the Kremlin today are a
very signal event in relations between our
countries, not only because this is the first visit
by a Head of Government of Australia to the
Soviet Union in the history of our relations. This
visit culminates, as it were, the positive work
carried out to date in many areas of cooperation
between the Soviet Union and
Australia, and, on the other hand, enables both
countries to outline ways and means to raise
these relations to a higher level. The talks just
opened show that both sides have a desire to do
this. Regrettably, we cannot yet say that the history
of Soviet-Australian relations is rich in traditions.
I think the reason for this was not a lack
of interest in each other or of a real basis for
development of our relations. Anyway, as for
the Soviet Union, we have invariably shown
readiness to develop equitable and mutually
beneficial co-operation with Australia. I am not
of course saying this to recapitulate the past. It is
much more important that Soviet-Australian
relations today are marked by new positive tendencies
and shifts, which at the same time are a
significant feature of international relations in
general. Major changes are under way in the world.
There is an ever more active search for solutions
to problems facing not only individual countries
but all mankind. These are above all the problems
of war and peace, of improving international
relations on a just and democratic
basis. These are the problems of economic and
scientific-technical development and social progress, the solution of which is a key to a more
secure and better future for peoples.
It is possible to say with confidence today that
the world on the whole is evolving in a direction
encouraging for all champions of peace and
progress, and this consolidates the people's
faith in the future and in the possibility to make
life on earth worthy of man.
This is demonstrably shown by many facts. If
we take the sphere of international relations,
there are above all the current assertion of the
principles of peaceful co-existence of states
with different social systems, the emergence in
the world arena of many new states as active
members of international intercourse, the continuing
process of the relaxation of international
tensions and the development of peaceful cooperation
among states. There is also the overall
strengthening of the positions of those forces
which stand for the settlement of the historical
contest between different social systems on the
lines of peaceful co-existence, rather than on
military lines. The Soviet People has an extensive
plan of action in the field of domestic and
foreign policies, which we are consistently putting
into practice. It is the decisions of the 24th
Congress of our Party and the plenary meetings
of its Central Committee and the Congressendorsed
peace program, on whose basis we
build our relations with Australia as well. We are
working for the realisation of the aims of our
peace-loving foreign policy not by opposing
some states to others, but are striving to do
everything possible to join efforts in this direction
with as large a number of states as possible
which are also interested in strengthening
peace. This approach is clearly visible in the
position of the Soviet Union on the questions of
enhancing security and co-operation in Europe,
in our proposals concerning collective security
in Asia and in many other foreign-policy initiatives
of our country, such as the holding of a
world disarmament conference. We stand for
making the process of detente irreversible and
safeguarding a lasting peace for all nations by
promoting broad and equal international cooperation
and by strengthening mutual understanding
and trust between states. ' Everything
possible should be done,' said General
Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee
L. I. Brezhnev, ' to ensure that the peoples of the
world live free from war, live in security, cooperation
and intercourse with each other. Such
is the urgent call of our times.'
During the talks with the Australian Prime Minister
we intend to devote serious attention to the
questions of bilateral co-operation between the
two countries. I think that unutilised possibilities
and great reserves are available in many areas
of our relations-in economic, scientific, technical,
cultural and, last but not least, political-in
the matter of strengthening our co-operation in
the interests of peace and the security of
nations. It appears to us that the Soviet Union and
Australia can more effectively join efforts, in
particular, in solving such important international
problems as the ending of the arms
race, disarmament, the implementation of the
Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, the total prohibition of all nuclear
weapon tests, the solution of the questions of
maritime law and a number of other problems.
The foundation for the further deepening of
Soviet-Australian co-operation in international
affairs is seen by us in that the Governments of
both countries adhere to close positions in
evaluating the significance of the relaxation of
international tension, in understanding the
need that detente should spread to all areas of
the world.
Both the Soviet Union and, obviously, Australia
are interested in peace and stability ensured in
Asia, too, particularly in those regions of the
continent where the situation continues to be
tense and fraught with war danger.
This concerns primarily the situation in the Middle
East. A just and lasting settlement in that region can be achieved only on the basis of the
Security Council and UN General Assembly
Resolutions, on the basis of the withdrawal of
Israeli troops from all the occupied Arab territories,
on the basis of the exercise of the legitimate
rights of the Arab people of Palestine,
including their right to self-determination and
their own statehood, and the safeguarding of
the security and independence of all states in
the region. We believe that the way to a stable
political settlement there passes through the
earliest reconvening of the Geneva Middle-East
Peace Conference.
To ensure peace in Asia means also to bring to a
conclusion the political settlement in Indo-
China, to secure undeviating compliance with
the Paris Agreement on Viet-Nam by all parties
to it, to put an end to the armed provocaticns of
the Saigon regime against the Republic of
South Viet-Nam and to its attempts at undermining
the foundations of a political settlement.
The Soviet Union will continue doing everything
possible for the solution of the problems of
peace and security in Asia, just as, naturally,
elsewhere. At the same time, we respect the
proposals of other states aimed at attaining this
goal. We do justice to the foreign-policy sl: eps of
the Australian Government in support of the
process of easing tensions, and we are prepared
to develop co-operation with Australia in the
matter of ensuring international security on an
acceptable basis.
In recent years, the Soviet Union and Australia
have secured, through joint efforts, a certain
progress in the development of mutual economic
relations. We shall strive to make our trade
with Australia, our economic ties with it, stable
and long-term. For this, Australia's business
circles and Soviet foreign trade organisations
should know better the markets and possibilities
of each other; they should be able correctly
to appraise the prospects for the economic
development of our countries, their role in the
international division of labour not only today,
but also tomorrow. The great importance of this
is borne out, specifically, by the big shifts and
upheavals that have of late taken place in the
West in international trade and in economy as a
whole. Apparently, Australia with its natural resources,
great territory and possibilities in industry and
agriculture will be acquiring a new importance it seems to us, testifies to a mutual aspiration to
in the world as one of the promising and big ensure success of Soviet-Australian talks and
participants in international economic co-give a new impetus to the further development
operation. And we would like to wish success in of Soviet-Australian co-operation.
this to the Australian people for whom the
Soviet people entertain the kindest sentiments.
We have always respected the people of
Australia, doing justice to their capacity for
work, persistence in overcoming difficulties,
and to their mastership of industrial and agricultural
production. Our people remember that
in the years of World War II we were bound by
ties of allied relations and that Australian soldiers
contributed to the rout of the fascist
enemy. The 30th anniversary of this victory will
be celebrated by the peoples and Governments
of the Soviet Union and Australia, in
strengthening peace as the objective basis on
which our countries can build and extend their
co-operation for the benefit of both peoples and
in the interests of peace and progress.
I would like to express satisfaction with the fact
that our talks with the Prime Minister and other
Australian statesmen began in an atmosphere
of mutual understanding and frankness which,
A march -past in honour of the Prime Minister at the War Cemetery in Leningrad.
Speech by the Prime Minister of Australia at a dinner given in his
honour by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR In
Moscow on 14 January 197
It is a great pleasure to be in Moscow as the first
Australian Prime Minister to visit the Soviet
Union. Australians admire the immense
achievements of the Soviet people in building
and rebuilding their great nation. As wartime
allies we admired the strength, the stamina, the
solidarity, the sheer courage of your people in
defending their motherland from fascist aggression.
In the past two days my party and I
have been vividly and poignantly reminded of
the heroism of your countrymen in the defence
of Leningrad, in the defence of Moscow, in the
defence of Volgagrad. No country has suffered
more in war, no country has fought in war with
greater valour, no country has survived the
devastation of war with greater strength and
resolution. I believe these experiences and
these great qualities have strengthened your
determination to work for a peaceful world.
Here in the Kremlin, here in this splendid hall, I
am nearing the end of a pattern of visits to the
major powers which I commenced shortly after I
became Prime Minister and which reflects the
independent and diversified foreign policy
which my government has proclaimed. Since
we came to office my Foreign Minister and I
have between us visited every continent. We
have visited the capitals of the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council.
This global context of our diplomacy is
important, first because we consider it necessary
to demonstrate to other governments and
leaders the important new directions of
Australia's policies. Secondly, the global context
is significant because I believe it is the
proper perspective in which to view our relations
with your Government. Your huge, diverse,
multi-national state occupies one-fifth of
the world's land surface, stretching from the
Baltic Sea to the North Pacific. The Soviet Union
is one of the world's two strongest powers. Our
policies acknowledge this fact. We recognise
that your interests, like your responsibilities, are
global. Australia believes that as a vigorous and forward
looking middle power, it is essential for us
to make what contribution we can tc the
strengthening of detente between the Soviet
Union and the United States. We must do more
than that. We must do our best to make dEtente
both irreversible and universal. As I said at the
United Nations General Assembly last September,
the Australian Government wAholeheartedly
endorses the progress towNards
detente which we have witnessed so far. We
recognise that detente is a continuing and a cooperative
endleavour. We would like to see it
widened to include relations between all the
major powers. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to
record in both capitals Australia's warm appreciation
of the progress made and cour encouragement
for further achievements.
I said this in Washington last October. I said it
today in Moscow, because in the final analysis
the peace of the world depends on Moscow and
Washington. Like other medium and smaller powers,
Australia welcomes detente, not oni' t for the
relative stability and freedom from fear which it
promises, but because it has helped create the
conditions in which middle powers like ourselves
can pursue more independent policies.
The old rigidities of the cold war have passed,
not least because so many ideological barriers
have been dismantled. My Government has
now established diplomatic relations With every
state geographically placed between the Soviet
Union and Australia. This is a mark of the new
realism in our policy. Just as we have diversified
our relations with the United Sates, so in
different ways we are diversifying our relations
with you.
Your country's military and indlus-irial might,
like that of the United States, places you in a
pre-eminent position to influence the future of
our planet. I have acknowledged the global
extent of your interests. Such power, such
interests, bring with them great responsibilities.
Australia looks to the superpowers to maintain
the utmost mutual restraint in their relations
with each other and towards other nations. On
such restraint peace and progress ultimately
depend. We look to you for responsible leadership
and action to meet the urgent global problems
of human need and suffering. Thus we
hope, for example, that the Soviet Union and
the United States will co-operate in an adequate
international system of grain reserves to
alleviate the uncertainties and shortages of
supplies in world food resources.
The other great area of responsibility which
attaches to the great powers is the nuclear arms
race and the increasing risk of the proliferation
of nuclear weapons. I expressed Australia's
deep concern on these vital issues, and outlined
some positive steps which the international
community could take to meet these challenges,
in my address to the last session of the
United Nations General Assembly. Statements
by many other leaders reflected the same grave
apprehensions and concern. My Government
has declared its commitment to practical and
effective international disarmament measures.
We have ratified the Non-Proliferation Treaty
and subsequently concluded the Mandatory
Safeguards Agreement with the International
Atomic Energy Agency. Yet we observe some
flagging of international concern over the
consequences of nuclear proliferation. We are
disappointed by the lack of universal support in
our own and other regions for the Non-
Proliferation Treaty, which we consider the
essential foundation for a safer world. Perhaps
we have lived in the shadow of mutual destruction
for so long that we have become accustomed
to it. Can we dare to be complacent about
our very survival?
Since raising our concern for these issues at the
United Nations I have visited each of the three
depository powers of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty. In Washington three months ago, in
London in December, and now here in Moscow.
I have made the same point. We look to the depository
states to maintain international interest
in the Non-Proliferation Treaty and to promote
and enlarge its membership. In this year of the
NPT Review Conference we see a special opportunity to revitalise the commitments undertaken
in this treaty, to strengthen the basis of
peace and awaken us from the nightmare of a
world in which nuclear weapons are widespread.
I was glad to note that in the historic
Vladivostok communique of 24 November,
Comrade Brezhnev and President Ford stressed
the importance of increasing the effectiveness
of the Treaty. We therefore look confidently to
the Soviet Union for constructive leadership on
this issue, not only by virtue of your special position
in relation to the Treaty, but because of
your important role as Co-Chairman of the Conference
of the Committee on Disarmament.
Mr President, I have spoken frankly on matters
of great consequence to us all. Nothing less
would have been appropriate to the dignity of
this unique occasion. Nothing less would adequately
have reflected the true nature of our
relations. These relations are now-though unhappily
they have not always been-characterised
by greater frankness, by greater realism,
by greater seriousness, by greater understanding.
My visit will serve to strengthen this understanding
and bring our peoples much closer
together. For example, I shall be signing agreements
between the Soviet Union and Australia
on science and technology and on cultural
exchanges. We have much to learn from you in
the scientific and technical fields, you I hope
may have something to learn from us. We
warmly welcome the prospect of a Cultural
Agreement between us. Australians deeply
respect and admire the culture of the Soviet
people-the glorious fruits of which I have seen
and heard at first hand during my present visit
to the Soviet Union.
In these and other ways we shall develop the
range of contacts between us. A world in which
states, regardless of their different social systems,
can communicate their views and
interests clearly and confidently is a world more
amenable to peaceful change and peaceable
policies. I regard the relations between our
countries as a constructive element in the creation
of such a world. I regard my visit to your
country, and the warm hospitality you have extended
to me and my party, as an important
contribution to the strengthening of friendship
between the Soviet and Australian peoples.
Joint Communique issued at the conclusion of the visit by the Prime
Minister of Australia to the USSR on 16 January 1975
At the invitation of the Soviet Government the
Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. E. G.
Whitlam, paid an official visit to the USSR from
12to 16 January 1975.
During his stay in the Soviet Union Mr Whitlam
and his party visited Moscow and Leningrad.
They had an opportunity to see how the Soviet
people live and work, as well as to acquaint
themselves with their achievements in the fields
of economics, science, education and culture.
The Prime Minister of Australia laid wreaths at
the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Moscow
and at the Piskarovskoye Memorial Cemetery in
Leningrad. The Prime Minister and his party were everywhere
accorded a warm welcome and generous
hospitality. The Prime Minister of Australia, E. G. Whitlam,
was received by the Chairman of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, N. V. Podgorny.
In the talks which took place between the
Chairman of the Soviet of Ministers of the
USSR, A. N. Kosygin, the First Deputy Chairman
of the Soviet of Ministers, K. T. Mazurov
and the Prime Minister of Australia, E. G.
Whitlam, there took part:
On the Soviet side-the First Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, V. V. Kuznetsov;
the First Deputy Minister of Foreign
Trade of the USSR, M. R. Kuzmin; and other
officials. On the Australian side-the Special Minister
of State, the Hon. L. F. Bowen; the Ambassador
of Australia to the USSR, Sir
James Plimsoll; the Secretary of the Department
of Minerals and Energy, Sir Lenox
Hewitt; the Secretary of the Department of
Overseas Trade, Mr D. H. McKay; the
Deputy Secretary of the Department of
Foreign Affairs, Mr R. A. Woolcott; and the Deputy Secretary of the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mr G. J. Yeend.
During the talks which were held in a businesslike
atmosphere and in a spirit of mutual understanding,
the parties had a constructive
exchange of opinions on major international
issues of mutual interest as well as on matters
concerning Soviet-Australian relations and the
prospects of their development.
Both sides noted that the positions of the Soviet
Union and Australia coincided or were close on
a number of important international problems.
They noted the significant developmenls which
had taken place in recent years towards
strengthening international peace and cooperation
and consolidating the spirit ol detente
in international relations.
Both sides agreed to make every effort ' o ensure
that relaxation of tension spread to all regions of
the world and that the steady progress towards
detente became irreversible.
Both parties noted the importance of the agreements
and arrangements concluded between
the USSR and the USA, directed at the further
improvement of the international climate and,
above all, the importance of the agreements on
the prevention of a nuclear war and the limitation
of strategic arms.
The Soviet Union and Australia note with satisfaction
the considerable advances towards
strengthening security and developing peaceful
co-operation in Europe and expres: s their hope
that the Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe will be successfully
concluded in the near future.
The Soviet Union and Australia attach great
importance to strengthening peace and stability
in Asia and expressed their determination to
contribute in every possible way to relaxing
tensions further, to ensuring security and to
creating conditions for making Asia a continent