File No. 860d.00/122
The British Ambassador (Reading) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I duly communicated to the Foreign Office the contents of your letter of April 20 regarding the provisional recognition by His Majesty’s Government of the de facto independence of Finland, pending the final settlement of the question by the peace conference.
[Page 785]I have now received a reply from Mr. Secretary Balfour from which it appears that the British Minister at Stockholm informed the Finnish Chargé d’Affaires that the de facto Finnish government would be recognized provisionally by His Majesty’s Government, pending final settlement at the peace conference, if the Finnish government would (1) obtain the release of British subjects arrested on Finnish territory by the Germans and (2) give adequate guarantees for the maintenance of neutrality, including the security of Allied subjects and property and the passage of Allied ships through Finnish territorial waters.
The British Minister further pointed out that a satisfactory reply to British representations against the aggressive action by the Finns on the Murman Railway must be included in the guarantee of neutrality.
His Majesty’s Government do not propose to take any action unless these conditions are fulfilled and unless they are fully satisfied as to the sincerity and adequacy of the guarantees.
Believe me [etc.]