861.00 Congress, Communist International; VII/18: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union ( Bullitt ) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 13—1:50 p.m.]
282. My telegram No. 281, July 13, 1 p.m.46 After signing the notes and letters today I had a moment of conversation with Litvinov. He said that he had again telegraphed to London and Paris this morning asking whether or not he was to expect an appeal from Abyssinia to convoke immediately the Council of the League of Nations and that he was waiting for a reply.
I then said to Litvinov that I hoped before he left Moscow he could assure me that the Congress of the Third International would not take place. He replied “What Congress? I know nothing about it.”
I said to him that the Government of the United States had not forgotten and was recalling vividly at this moment the promises contained in paragraph 4 of his note to the President on the subject of propaganda signed by him just before the resumption of relations and that the Government of the United States expected the promises of the Soviet Government to be respected.
He mumbled with distinct signs of annoyance and rising temper: “I remember I said I could not promise anything about the Third International.” I answered that I feared most serious consequences if the pledge of his Government should not be respected.