761.9315 Manchuria/195: Telegram

The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Thurston) to the Secretary of State

915. Embassy’s telegram 890, November 13, 7 p.m. This morning’s papers publish the following communiqué from the Foreign Office:

“On the 19th of November the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, V. M. Molotov—with plenipotentiary powers from the Governments of the U. S. S. R. and the Mongolian People’s Republic, and the Japanese Ambassador in Moscow, Mr. Togo, with plenipotentiary powers from the Governments of Japan and Manchukuo, concluded an agreement relating to the composition, functions and place of work of a mixed commission composed of two plenipotentiaries from the U. S. S. R. and the Mongolian People’s Republic on the one side and of two plenipotentiaries from Japan and Manchukuo on the other for the demarcation of the boundary between the Mongolian People’s Republic and Manchukuo in the region of the recent conflict. The commission will enter upon its functions in the near future in the city of Chita. The second half of the sessions will take place in the city of Harbin.

Moreover, an exchange of opinions took place between Comrade Molotov and Mr. Togo relating to the fundamental principles upon which a Soviet-Japanese trade agreement should be based. The exchange of opinions indicated the existence of similar views upon this subject. [”]

Thurston