711.61/781: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:35 p.m.]
1781. Molotov asked me to call to see him this afternoon. He was in especially good humor and extremely cordial. He opened the conversation by asking me whether I could tell him the “present status” of the Baltic gold, ships and Legations in Washington and what was the “present attitude” of the United States towards the entry of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union. I replied that I was not conversant with the day to day status of the discussions between Mr. Welles and Umanski and was unaware of the extent to which these questions had been under discussion recently in Washington but that [Page 439] I assumed he was receiving regular reports from Umanski. Molotov then stated that he had been informed that the names and flags of the Baltic States [ships] were being changed and that some had already actually been sent to South America where they would be out of reach of the Soviet Union as it has no diplomatic representation in that area. He was quick to add that he understood that this action has been taken by the diplomatic representatives of the Baltic States in Washington but “with the full knowledge and consent of the American Government.” He then inquired whether this procedure would continue. At this point I inquired whether he had not instructed Umanski to discuss the subject with Mr. Welles. He then asked me, “Do you think this matter can be separately dealt with—apart from the general conversations that are being carried on in Washington?” and concluded his inquiry with the statement that the Soviet Government must protest at these acts of the Baltic representatives with the consent of the United States. I replied that the question whether this subject could be separately dealt with was for the State Department to determine but that I would be glad to report his inquiry. There then ensued a general discussion as to the course of the conversations in Washington and I seized the opportunity to impress again upon Molotov the concessions that have already been made by the Department. Molotov replied by reciting what he described as the discriminatory acts of the United States, including what he referred to as unfriendly speeches by public officials in the United States. At this point and without conceding the accuracy of his statements I invited him to specify a single act since August which he regarded as discrimination. He conceded that there had been none, pointing out that at no time had there been any discrimination or unfriendly utterances emanating from Soviet sources. I then asked him whether he would like me to cite a few instances of discrimination against the United States and American interests which I added, did not cease in August but have continued up to the present time and referred to the negotiations with Sweden and Germany to compensate their respective nationals for property located in the Baltic States and to recent acts of discrimination against American newspaper correspondents. Molotov made the lame excuse that special conditions affected the German negotiations, such as transfer of population. When I inquired whether these special conditions also applied to Sweden he merely smiled. At one point in the course of our general discussion he intimated that since he understood that the talks in Washington did not include all questions between the two Governments there was no reason why the subject of the Baltic gold, ships and Legations could not be separately disposed of. He said that he regarded this question as the most important issue between the two [Page 440] Governments. [?]34 of the American Government. When I asked him whether he did not think that the American Government during the past 3 or 4 months had already given ample evidence of its good will and desire to establish friendly relations, he replied “In a very small way,” I then pointed out to him that the Soviet Government had not yet responded “even in a small way” by referring to the unsolved difficulties previously reported which the Embassy was still encountering. There followed a discussion in the course of which Molotov defended the failure of the Soviet authorities to take appropriate action in those matters which have not yet been adjusted on the grounds that they involved rules, regulations, and provisions of law, culminating with a promise to give personal consideration to these questions.
Towards the close of our talk Molotov remarked that while he still hoped that the discussions in Washington would eventually lead to some results he felt that they were progressing extremely slowly and in this connection referred to the failure of the Soviet Government to receive any substantial amount of machine tools. I asked him specifically whether the Soviet Government genuinely desired to restore what I described as the “cordial relations” which have always existed between the two countries and he responded in the affirmative with some degree of enthusiasm. In this connection I gained a stronger impression this afternoon than ever before that Umanski’s reports to Molotov have not only failed to give the substance but to reflect the spirit in which these negotiations have been carried on.
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