760H.6111/4: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 7—1:45 a.m.]
698. For the President, Secretary and Under Secretary. My 695, April 6, 5 p.m.69 The Yugoslav Minister this afternoon gave me the following account of the negotiations leading up to the signing of the Soviet-Yugoslav treaty of friendship and nonaggression at 1:30 o’clock this morning:
Gavrilovic said that it had been the Soviet Government’s original intention (see my 679, April 4, 10 p.m.) to issue a communiqué with respect to its attitude toward the Yugoslav-German problem but that this had been abandoned following a protracted discussion between himself and Molotov based on his objection to the desire of the latter to incorporate in the proposed communiqué a reference to Soviet “neutrality”. It was then decided that the position of the Soviet Government should be set forth in the form of a treaty but in this connection the same difficulty arose with respect to the desire of the Soviet Government to employ in the treaty a phrase referring to its “neutrality”. The Minister said that he had finally referred the matter to Belgrade and that he had been instructed during a telephone conversation with the Yugoslav Prime Minister to consent to the inclusion of a reference to neutrality if the Soviet Government insisted thereon. Last night, however, when he was discussing the matter with Molotov, Stalin69a (who presumably was aware of the instructions issued to the Yugoslav Minister by his Prime Minister as their telephone conversation undoubtedly had been recorded and reported to him) entered the room and after hearing Gavrilovic’s arguments agreed that the treaty should make no reference to Soviet neutrality.
The Minister said that after the treaty was signed at 1:30 this morning he had continued his discussions with Stalin until 7 o’clock [Page 302] and that he had gained the impression from Stalin’s remarks that the principal object of the Soviet Government at the present time was to weaken Germany as much as possible. He said that Stalin had expressed the opinion that the war would last one or two years more and had remarked that “the English are now becoming good soldiers.” The Minister stated that Stalin had promised substantial quantities of supplies to be shipped by water in Yugoslav vessels now in Soviet Black Sea ports. He is seeing Stalin again tonight at 10 o’clock for the purpose of continuing his discussions regarding the material assistance to be rendered by the Soviet Government. He told me that it is his intention to raise the question of a curtailment of deliveries by the Soviet Union to Germany.
The Minister said that while he is not certain, he had gained the impression last night that the Soviet Government had intimated to the German Ambassador yesterday morning its intention to enter into a treaty of friendship and nonaggression with Yugoslavia and that the Ambassador was displeased.
In conclusion he stated that he had asked Stalin whether he was familiar with the rumors that Germany intends to attack the Soviet Union in May and that Stalin had replied in a grim voice “Let them try it”. He said that to this he had rejoined that some people asserted that the Soviet Union would not be able to defend itself for more than 6 weeks, others suggested 3 months and some said 6 months to which Stalin had again replied “Let them try it”.