Office of the Historian

740.0011 European War 1939/11970: Telegram

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

Washington, June 14, 1941—2 p.m.

797. Your telegram no. 1127 of June 12, 11 a.m., was so helpful and timely that we have decided to transmit most of its contents to the American Embassy at London with the suggestion that the Chargé d’Affaires70 show them to Eden71 in confidence and at the same time explain to him what our present policy is with regard to the Soviet Union.

Our telegram to the Embassy at London reads as follows:72 [Page 758]

“2113. Your 2394, June 11, 8 p.m.73 You may desire to let Mr. Eden read telegram No. 1127, June 12, 11 a.m., from Moscow, which is being repeated to you.

When showing this to him you may state that, basing ourselves upon our own experiences and upon observations of the experiences of other governments, we have adopted the following policy with regard to the Soviet Union:

1.
To make no approaches to the Soviet Government;
2.
To treat any approaches which the Soviet Government may make toward us with reserve until such time as the Soviet Government may satisfy us that it is not engaging merely in maneuvers for the purpose of obtaining unilaterally concessions and advantages for itself;
3.
To reject any Soviet suggestions that we make concessions for the sake “of improving the atmosphere of American-Soviet relations” and to exact a strict quid pro quo for anything which we are willing to give the Soviet Union;
4.
To make no sacrifices in principle in order to improve relations;
5.
In general, to give the Soviet Government to understand that we consider an improvement in relations to be just as important to the Soviet Union as to the United States, if not more important to the Soviet Union;
6.
To base our day-to-day relations so far as practicable on the principle of reciprocity.”

Any comments from you would be welcome.

Hull
  1. Herschel V. Johnson.↩
  2. Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩
  3. Under Secretary of State Welles showed this telegram to Lord Halifax, the British Ambassador, on June 14; in his memorandum of the conversation, Mr. Welles wrote that Lord Halifax “believed that the policy which his Government would pursue towards the Soviet Union would be identical with that outlined in the telegram I had showed him.” (711.61/818) The six points of American policy were likewise repeated to the Embassy at Tokyo in telegram No. 347, June 21, 1941.↩
  4. Not printed.↩