760d.61/506: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:15 a.m.]
965. Molotov delivered a brief radio address at midnight concerning a rupture of relations with Finland. He began by asserting that the Soviet Union had been obliged to undertake measures to safeguard its security, and proceeded to review the negotiations of the past 2 months and the frontier incidents of the past few days. He stated that the nonaggression pact had first been abrogated but that inasmuch as further provocations could be expected from the Finnish regime and militarists, it had come to the conclusion that it could no longer maintain normal relations with the Finnish Government, and that the Soviet diplomatic and administrative representatives and organizations in Finland had accordingly been recalled. He added that the chiefs of the Red Army and the Red Navy had been instructed to be prepared to meet any new provocations.
[Page 798]Molotov affirmed that, contrary to the assertions of the foreign press, the measures taken do not envisage the seizure of Finnish territory, and stated that the Soviet Union is prepared to consider the uniting of the Karelian and Finnish peoples in an independent state. He also stated that the Soviet Union does not desire to interfere in the internal and external affairs of Finland, as those affairs must be decided by the Finnish people, but that at the same time no other government has the right to interfere in matters between the Soviet Union and Finland. Throughout the speech emphasis was placed on the desire of the Soviet Union to maintain friendly relations with the Finnish people, apparently as distinguished from the Government. He concluded with the statement that the sole aim of the Soviet Government is the safeguarding of Leningrad, which should be the basis of friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Finland.
Repeated to Helsinki and Riga.