File No. 861.00/1905
The Ambassador in Russia ( Francis) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 11, 6.40 a.m.]
231. Soviet press having charged through editorials and signed communications that Allied Governments have made propositions of support and [in] event recognition, I am giving following statement for Russian press, June 2:
There seems to be a misunderstanding or a want of clear understanding as to the relation of the Allied Governments to the present Soviet government. Speaking for the American Government, I can say that no authoritative proposition of an official or even of a semiofficial nature has been made to the Soviet government. Soon after locating at Vologda or about the time of the ratification of the Brest Litovsk peace treaty by the All-Russian Soviet, at Moscow, I made a statement to the effect that my Government did not recognize this separate peace but that the American people still considered themselves as allies of the Russian people in the struggle against the Central Empires and that my Government was ready and willing to extend moral and material aid to any organization that would oppose the German advance. That statement has been substantially reiterated by myself in subsequent declarations concerning the preparations being made by America as a result of the determination and spirit pervading the American people.
American representatives throughout Russia have endeavored to maintain a pleasant modus vivendi with the authorities functioning in the localities where such American representatives were located. A number of propositions have been made to such representatives to aid or encourage organizations formed or contemplated for opposition to existing powers but such propositions have been invariably refused or ignored. In other words the policy of my Government is not to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia but to permit the people of this great country to select their own form of government and to frame their own laws and to choose the administrators thereof.
President Wilson, in every public utterance concerning Russia, has expressed the firm determination of the American Government and the American people to aid the Russian people and not to permit any injury or injustice to be inflicted or imposed upon Russia, or the Russians.