File No. 763.72119/2443
Memorandum of the Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips)
I showed this1 yesterday to the Secretary, who feels that the Russian Ambassador should communicate any comments he has to make to Paris through his colleague in Paris. I gave Mr. Bakhmeteff this reply today. Mr. Bakhmeteff, however, is urging us to become Russia’s champion at Versailles and thinks we could do so best by transmitting his views as expressed herein. He thinks that Russia should be treated now as an entity until after the peace conference, when a decision must be reached by the self-determination process, but that it would be a mistake to consider at this time the apparent claims of the several states claiming independence. He emphasizes the fact that these claims have been originated by Germany.