Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1940, The British Commonwealth, The Soviet Union, The Near East and Africa, Volume III

125.9777/9: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, December 30, 1940—2 p.m.
[Received 4 p.m.]

1800. Reference ultimate paragraph Department’s 780, November 19, 7 p.m.⁸⁸ The Embassy’s repeated inquiries of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs regarding the extent of the Vladivostok consular district elicited no reply until today when Valkov stated orally that the district will be limited to the city of Vladivostok.⁸⁹ The German and Japanese Embassies state that this is the extent of their consular districts at Vladivostok.

Steinhardt

[Mr. Angus I. Ward, Consul and First Secretary of Embassy at Moscow, was assigned as Consul in charge of the Consulate General at Vladivostok on November 28, 1940. He reported on January 15, 1941, the opening of provisional offices at Vladivostok. The Consulate General was opened to the public on February 13, 1941. Mr. Ward became Consul General at Vladivostok on October 31, 1941. Further correspondence regarding the administrative details of establishing the Consulate General, the difficulties in obtaining suitable accommodations, etc., is not printed.]

88. Not printed.
89. In an unnumbered instruction dated February 18, 1941, the Department advised Consul Ward at Vladivostok that it had been decided “formally to delimit your consular district as the City of Vladivostok only”.