Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, General, The Soviet Union, Volume I

860D.6359 International Nickel Company/24: Telegram

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

Moscow , February 21, 1941—5 p.m.
[Received February 22—3:45 a.m.]

331. With reference to Helsinki’s No. 37 of February 7, 3 p.m., regarding the Petsamo nickel mines, the Swedish Minister told me today that he had discussed the matter yesterday with the Finnish Minister³⁰ who, while stating that the present status of the negotiations is as outlined to Schoenfeld by the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, expressed some pessimism as to a prompt settlement.³¹

Steinhardt

30. Juho Kusti Paasikivi.
31. On February 18, 1941, the Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky, told the Finnish Minister that there was no reason to continue with the work of the Mixed Committee in Moscow and that the matter would now take its course, with all its consequences. See Finland Reveals Her Secret Documents on Soviet Policy, March 1940–June 1941, pp. 27, 94.