740.0011 European War 1939/4018: Telegram
The Minister in Rumania (Gunther) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 20—2:10 a.m.]
282. Suspicious troop movements and military activity between Odessa and the Rumanian frontier have been more frequent of late. I am informed that the Russian Chargé d’Affaires has stated however that it is not Russian policy to attack a country without previous negotiations and that there had been no negotiations with Rumania for some time. This is the stage setting upon which Lavrentyev, the new Russian Minister, will make his first appearance (see first paragraph No. 254, June 5, noon). Eighteen hours late from the frontier, he is due today.
There is no concealing the fact that there is trepidation in Rumanian official circles coupled with determination to defend Rumania’s frontiers with all its power and this latter should be made clear to Russia. It is realized that Russia is now thoroughly frightened that its turn will come after England and seeks to shorten and straighten out its line of defense against Germany. It has done so in the Baltic States and to do so here would entail doing away with the curve and sweep of its frontier on the Dniester around Bessarabia and the Pruth instead which would make a relatively straight line from the Baltic to the Black Sea. There is also the objective of the destruction of the oil fields to prevent this supply from reaching Germany. No one knows what Hitler agreed with Stalin in September with regard to [Page 478] Bessarabia. Hitler’s constitutional objection to fighting two fronts however is known and it is possible that the Russians, if unable to obtain what they wish by negotiation, consider it the lesser of two evils to embark upon military operations for advantageous military objectives now rather than when forced to at a disadvantage later on.