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To the West Germans. The one thing all Germans claim to want is reunification of Germany. Nobody can give it to them but Russia, and it won't. But Moscow would consent to a loose confederation between East and West Germany. The asking price: West German withdrawal from NATO, renunciation of nuclear weapons (which, the Russians indicated to the British, they regard as more dangerous in German hands than in any others). Khrushchev conceded that Adenauer would prefer NATO to a German confederation. But by so doing, said Atheist Khrushchev piously, Catholic Adenauer is rejecting "both the Christian and atheist" road to peace: "To live in friendship and to do everything to prevent the rule of evil on earth." And since Adenauer is an old man, he had best mend his ways fast, or, "according to Christian belief," he will soon "be severely judged by the heavenly court." Nikita's point: all West Germans with their eye on the main chance should start placing hedging bets with Moscow right now.
