File No. 861.00/1125

The Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips ) to the Secretary of State 1

[Memorandum]

De Laboulaye 2 informs me that the French Government has instructed the French Ambassador in Petrograd to inform Chicherin (associated with Trotsky) indirectly that if the Bolsheviki resist the German menace and defend Russia against the German aggression, France is ready to give the Bolsheviki help in money and material. The French Government now inquire whether the United States will give similar instructions to the American Ambassador in Petrograd.

Wm. Phillips
  1. Notes in the margin of MS.: “This is out of the question. R[obert] L[ansing]. Submitted to Pres[iden]t who says the same thing. R[obert] L[ansing] 2/19/18”
  2. Second Secretary of the French Embassy.