711.61/775: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:25 p.m.]
1645. For the Under Secretary. Since my interview with Lozovski on November 19 (reported in my No. 1579, November 19, 9 p.m.), the following matters which I discussed with him have been dealt with: I have been permitted to visit the imprisoned individual whose American citizenship was established in the course of the interview and whose release I now anticipate; 38 Americans in the Lwow area have been permitted to depart for the United States; permission has been granted to export a limited quantity of gasoline to our Legation at Stockholm; corrective measures have been promised with respect to the handling of Embassy shipments by the Customs authorities; assurances have been given that in the future American citizens in transit through Moscow will be permitted to remain here for the time necessary to effect their documentation; the matter of the arrested Soviet employee of the Embassy is being satisfactorily disposed of; an investigation has been promised of the excessive freight charges levied on our food shipments from Vladivostok; assurances have been given Soviet frontier authorities will be instructed to discontinue the confiscation of small amounts of American currency from American citizens departing from the Soviet Union.
No action has as yet been taken by the Soviet authorities in respect of the other matters referred to in my telegram under reference but I am now hopeful that they may also be disposed of.