861.24/446: Telegram

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

450. According to the Swedish press, Oumanski has recently given assurances to the Under Secretary that shipments from the United States to the Soviet Union have not been and will not be diverted to Germany.

Entirely aside from the fact that I believe some of these shipments are assigned to replace deliveries by the Soviet Union to Germany which otherwise could only be made at a sacrifice and possible risk to Soviet internal economy, I invite the Department’s specific attention to the last paragraph of my 300 of February 18, 4 p.m.,12 indicating that much of the copra and vegetable oils shipped from San Francisco to Vladivostok in Soviet vessels is destined for Germany.

From what I have learned from various members of the different trade delegations which have recently been in Moscow, I am suspicious of the ultimate destination of some of the purchases these European countries contemplate making in the United States ostensibly for delivery and consumption by themselves. I am also convinced that at least some of the purchases being made by Japan in the United States are finding their way to Germany.

Invoices covering shipments of Soviet gold to date have amounted to $11,251,402, exclusive of course of any indirect shipments there may have been. These gold shipments, in my opinion, bear watching in relationship to current Soviet purchases in the United States, as it is possible that purchases for German account may be paid for with funds resulting from these gold shipments and subsequently cleared through the Soviet-German trade agreement.13 It is also not to be excluded that Soviet balances placed at Germany’s disposal in the United States might be made use of to liquidate Japanese purchases for German account.

The extent to which Soviet and Japanese vessels in the Pacific are discharging cargoes at Vladivostok and Korean ports of a character which would be extremely useful to Germany lends support to the potentialities outlined above.

Steinhardt
  1. Not printed.
  2. Agreement of January 10, 1941. For correspondence regarding wartime cooperation between Germany and the Soviet Union, see pp. 116 ff.