800.51W89 U.S.S.R./167b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the Soviet Union (Wiley)
24. Troyanovsky this afternoon rejected my proposal of last September for settlement of the question of debts, claims and credits and made no new proposal. I am issuing a statement for publication 9 P.M. this evening which is being cabled to you.
It is anticipated that the Export-Import Bank will be abolished immediately, that the Naval and Air Attachés will be withdrawn, the Consulate General abolished, and the personnel of the Embassy reduced. Instructions will be cabled covering these matters.
In discussing these actions with members of the Soviet Government and others in Moscow you should endeavor to convey clearly the fact that the Government of the United States has desired and does desire the most friendly cooperation with the Soviet Union but that Litvinov has shown so little disposition to permit the development of friendly relations with the United States that the Government of the United States is convinced that no real friendship can be developed so long as he adheres to his present attitude.
Ambassador thinks it desirable that both Nimmer and White in their farewell conversations with Voroshilov should refer to the numerous unnecessary obstacles to the development of Soviet-American friendship which have been created by Litvinov.
The Ambassador will return to Moscow as soon as he has recovered from his present illness, which is not a diplomatic invention but a streptococcus infection.