741.61/917: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:30 p.m.]
48. My No. 5, January 2, 3 p.m. In the course of a conversation with the British Ambassador last night he told me that his Government’s [Page 156] attitude towards the Soviet Union had recently stiffened considerably and that in consequence he continued to avoid any contact even in minor matters with the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. He said that as he had decided that the Soviets must make the next move he had sent a note to the Commissariat to the effect that he had referred the matter of the Baltic ships and gold back to London where it must now be discussed, if at all.96 He also told me that the British had recently “stopped” several cargoes destined for Vladivostok.
- See telegram No. 1601, November 23, 1940, from the Ambassador in the Soviet Union, Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. i, p. 630.↩