File No. 861.00/2373
The Acting Secretary of State to the Consul at Vladivostok (Caldwell)
The Department has received telegram signed by Lavrov, President of the Council of Ministers, and Derber, Minister for Foreign Affairs, purporting to represent the provisional government of autonomous Siberia and asking that any action conducted in Siberia should have exclusive regard for the authorities of the supreme power in Siberia represented by the aforesaid provisional government.1 For the information of yourself and Admiral Knight, the Department has not acknowledged this telegram and is not prepared at this time to represent [recognize] any group or faction in Siberia. In this same connection referring to a telegram from Admiral Knight to the Navy Department, 21004, and in view of the attitude of this Government just described, the Department regards the presence of General Horvat at Vladivostok as an embarrassment rather than an asset.
- Not printed.↩