File No. 861.00/621a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Russia ( Francis )
The Associated Press has sent an interview with Premier Kerensky concerning Russia’s participation in the war. Based on two preliminary [Page 218] bulletins the Washington Post to-day published the wholly unwarranted headline, “Russia quits war.” Thereafter I issued the following statement which you may use in any manner you may deem advisable:
There has been absolutely nothing in the despatches received by the Department of State from Russia, nor in information derived from any other source whatever, to justify the impression created by the Washington Post to-day, principally by the headline, “Russia quits war,” that Russia is out of the conflict. A reading of the full interview with Premier Kerensky of which the paper published only an abbreviated and preliminary account, itself shows that the headline is entirely unwarranted.
Our own advices show that the Provisional Government in Petrograd is attacking with great energy the problems confronting it. Reports received from Petrograd by mail and telegraph show that Premier Kerensky and his government, far from yielding to discouragement, are still animated by a strong determination to organize all Russia’s resources in a whole-hearted resistance and carry the war through to a victorious completion. At the same time this Government, like those of the Allies, is rendering all possible assistance.