Bearded, handsome Alexei Pavlov, Soviet ambassador to France, was hard at work on an important diplomatic assignment: to delicately cozen France out of full and effective partnership in the Atlantic coalition. In talks with Premier Rene Pleven and Alexandre Parodi, secretary general of the French Foreign Ministry, Pavlov smoothly reminded his listeners that France, by geography as well as diplomatic tradition, is the logical bridgehead for East-West reconciliation. What Pavlov did not say, Pleven and Parodi knew: that France is the weakest link in Western European defense.
A Possible Bargain. Pavlov hinted that...
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