740.00113 European War 1939/1141: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:14 p.m.]
7864. Reference Embassy’s 6833, October 8; 7387, October 26.
1. Sometime after the meeting on October 7 of the Inter-Allied Sub-Committee on Axis Acts of Dispossession, Gregory, the Chairman, proposed to Istchenko, the USSR representative on the Sub-Committee, the following solution:
- (1)
- An amended version of paragraph 27 of the draft report indicating that the material for the report had been drawn from a number of sources other than the memoranda submitted by the various governments and that nothing in the report should be deemed to have any political significance particularly as regards boundary questions;
- (2)
- a proposed new final paragraph in which Istchenko would specifically dissociate himself from any references to Poland in the report but express agreement with the remainder of the report.
A further meeting of the Sub-Committee took place on November 9. Just before the meeting Gregory received a reply from Istchenko that these proposals were unacceptable.
2. At the meeting on November 9 Istchenko pressed for a Sub-Committee vote on the propositions (1) that the Polish Government should withdraw the memorandum which it has submitted to the Sub-Committee or amend it by deleting the references to those territories which are regarded by the Poles as eastern Poland but which in the Russian view are territories belonging to the USSR; (2) failing this to instruct the drafting Sub-Committee to amend the report by deleting all references to Poland.
The Chairman avoided a vote and Istchenko later read a statement indicating that if these propositions were not accepted he would be obliged to refrain from signing the report.
From informal conversations just after the close of the meeting it was indicated that if such a vote were taken the Norwegian representative30 and possibly also the Czechoslovak representative31 might vote with Istchenko, while the Dutch representative32 and possibly also the Yugoslav, French, Belgian and Luxemburg representatives33 might abstain from voting.
3. It became clear shortly before the meeting of November 9 that no solution would be possible through the channels of the Sub-Committee. [Page 455] The matter was therefore discussed informally by an Embassy representative with Ronald34 and Lord Hood35 in the Foreign Office. It was agreed that a vote on the Sub-Committee would be certain to lead to a rift which would make it impossible to get all countries to sign the Sub-Committee’s report. Moreover the function of the Sub-Committee has always been considered to be that of a fact finding body only. The only prospect of solution was to deal with the matter at a diplomatic level outside the Committee. In a further informal conversation with Ronald and Lord Hood today it was indicated that the Foreign Office contemplates having the matter taken up in Moscow in the hope that Istchenko’s instructions can be amended with a view to the acceptance of a solution possibly along the lines of Gregory’s suggestions indicated in section 1 above. Hood will send us for comment a copy of a draft instruction which the Foreign Office will consider sending to the British Ambassador in Moscow. He suggested that if the American Government thought fit it might at the appropriate time consider sending a representation on similar lines. Meanwhile it is expected that Gregory will put off any further meeting of the Sub-Committee until this dispute is settled out of committee.
As soon as we receive the suggested draft instruction which the Foreign Office is preparing to send to the British Embassy in Moscow we will telegraph it to the Department.