760d.61/409: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 5—10:10 a.m.]
868. For the President, Secretary and Under Secretary. My telegram No. 864, November 4, 6 p.m. The following has been conveyed to me with the request that it be held in the utmost secrecy.
[Page 994]At the meeting last evening at which only Stalin, Molotov and the two chief Finnish delegates were present, Stalin, while maintaining the Soviet demand for a naval base on the Finnish side of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, did not insist that it be at Hango and offered to accept islands in the vicinity of Hango for that purpose. In return for this concession Stalin insisted that the Finnish-Soviet frontier be drawn further to the north of Leningrad than the Finns had proposed in their reply.
The Finnish delegation are now awaiting further instructions from Helsinki. As soon as they are received a further meeting will take place.
While I am unable to forecast the reaction of the Finnish Government to the latest Soviet proposals, I regard the presence of Stalin and his apparent disposition to compromise on his demand for Hango as encouraging.