641.6131/216: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:30 a.m.]
1051. I am informed in confidence by a member of the British Embassy that yesterday Mikoyan,17 the Commissar for Foreign Trade, unexpectedly invited the British Ambassador and the British Commercial Secretary here to come to see him today for the purpose of discussing general questions relating to Soviet-British trade. The informant stated that Mikoyan’s request was of interest inasmuch as during the last few weeks discussions concerning Soviet-British trade had been allowed to lapse and there had been no indication from London of any new developments in that field. In addition the informant stated that as of interest in connection with the foregoing the Soviet Military Attaché in London had been very anxious to obtain confirmatory evidence of German air losses claimed by the British Government and had asked to be shown the wreckage or other evidence of the planes brought down.
- Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan.↩