740.0011 Moscow/10–1943

Conference Document No. 24
[Translation]

The Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs ( Molotov ) to the Secretary of State

My Dear Mr. Secretary: As promised by me at today’s meeting of our Conference, I am transmitting to you herewith the text of the Statement of the Soviet Delegation on Point 8 of the Agenda, “Question of Agreement between the Principal Allies and the Small Allies on Post-war questions”.

I beg you, Mr. Secretary, to accept the assurance of my highest regards.

Appendix: as mentioned.

V. Molotov
[Enclosure—Translation]

Statement of the Soviet Delegation on Point 8 of the Agenda

On the question of agreement between the principal Allies and the Small Allies concerning post-war questions the British Government has presented a proposal, put forward in a draft note which has been presented in the form of a proposal of the British Government regarding this point of the Agenda. According to this proposal, the British Government and the Soviet Government would conclude an agreement not to conduct negotiations concerning any obligations or agreements whatsoever with the Governments of other European [Page 727] states which are their allies in the joint struggle, regarding questions relating to the post-war period.

The Soviet Government cannot give its assent to this proposal of the British Government. The Soviet Government considers that the Anglo-Soviet Treaty of Alliance of May 26, 1942, does not contain any conditions according to which the contracting parties must not conclude agreements with other Allied countries concerning post-war questions. The Government of Great Britain expressed agreement with this point of view, informing the Soviet Government of that in a Memorandum presented in Moscow on August 23, 1943.

The Soviet Government is prepared, in so far as that corresponds to the desires of the British Government, to conclude an agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom obligating both parties not to conclude, with governments of European states which are Allies in the common struggle against Hitlerite Germany, any agreements or treaties whatever concerning post-war questions without previous consultation or agreement.

The Soviet Government, at the same time, considers it the right of both Governments, both the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, for the purpose of preserving peace and resisting aggression, to conclude agreements on post-war questions with bordering Allied states, without making that action dependent on consultation and agreement between them, in so far as agreements of such a character concern questions of the direct security of their boundaries and of the corresponding states bordering on them, as, for example, the U.S.S.R. and Czechoslovakia.