Office of the Historian

861.751/10–1645: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, October 16, 1945—7 p.m.
[Received October 16—3 p.m.]

3563. ReDeptel 2114, October 9. Embassy addressed note to Foreign Office October 15 asking whether Soviet authorities might not relax present restrictions on radio telephone circuit between US and USSR to permit business and personal calls.

Embassy made same request in note to Foreign Office on June 9 though at that time calls were to be subject to censorship both in US and USSR. No answer was ever received to this note.

Embassy made informal approach direct to Commissariat for Communications on July 13 and received written reply on July 20 stating under Article 8 (c) of existing radio telephone agreement71 private conversations are as a rule temporarily disallowed. Exceptions may be made only in special cases and only with permission of competent organs of both parties. However, employees of Embassy in cases of urgent necessity may be authorized by Commissariat for Communications to make personal calls provided calls are made from Embassy telephones.

[Page 897]

Under this arrangement employees of Embassy and Military Mission have succeeded in placing private telephone calls.

It may be that some time will elapse before Soviets will relax restrictions generally.

Harriman
  1. See paragraph 1, article 8, of revised radio regulations signed at Cairo, April 8, 1938; 54 Stat. (pt. 2) 1417, 1473.↩