711.60D/58
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
The Minister of Finland called to see me this morning at his request.
The Minister said he wished to read to me the telegram he had sent to his Foreign Minister after his previous conversation with me. The Minister read to me what purported to be a copy of his telegram and what he read to me seemed to be an accurate account of the conversation held. In the text which he read to me, the Minister had emphasized the statement I had made to him that if the Finnish Government now undertook openly and actively to assist the German Government in an offensive attack upon the Soviet Union, the relations between our two countries would reach a very serious crisis.
[Page 47]I said that what the Minister had read to me seemed to be an accurate presentation of the views I had expressed to the Minister and that I could only reiterate today the same views and with even greater emphasis, if possible. I stated that as I had said before, the Government of the United States had learned to have a very high regard for the people of Finland since shortly after the termination of the last world war and that this Government had always believed that the democracy of Finland was a very useful and desirable element in the concert of nations. I said, however, that to speak very bluntly, I believed the Minister would agree that no matter what the termination of the present war might bring about, the existence of friendly and cordial and intimate relations between our two countries was of far greater value to Finland than to the United States. I said, therefore, it seemed to me from the long range standpoint that the Finnish Government would certainly desire to think very carefully before embarking upon any adventure or policies which would result in the elimination of that relationship with the United States.