711.6111/12: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Standley) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 14—9:58 a.m.]
654. My 547, May 28, 4 p.m. The luncheon given by Molotov on June 11 in honor of the Soviet-American Agreement15 was also characterized by an unusual spirit of friendliness and good cheer. The Soviet guests present appeared much more open and willing freely to converse than has been the case on previous formal gatherings. The underlying motive in most of the toasts and in subsequent private conversation with Soviet officials was that of collaboration now and in the postwar period and I sensed a greater spirit of sincerity on the part of our Soviet hosts than I have witnessed before. The leading editorials in Pravda and Izvestiya of June 11 which are summarized in the immediately following telegram16 stressed throughout the significance of the American-Soviet Agreement as the basis for united action and collaboration between our two countries now and in the [Page 545] postwar period and may have had some influence in animating the spirit that prevailed at the luncheon. For as I am aware these editorials were unprecedented in their expressions of friendship and good will toward the United States and went much further than those published on the anniversary of the British treaty (see my 537, May 2617).
In his opening remarks Molotov stated that in spite of the great economic difficulties now being experienced by the Soviet State the Russian people were always finding new strength to support their army and to continue the struggle against Hitler; that in their victories the Lend-Lease Agreement had played an important part; that on the basis of the London and Washington agreements success had been achieved, victory would be attained and a firm foundation would be laid for common collaboration with America, Britain and other freedom loving nations in the postwar period.
I took occasion briefly to review the Lend-Lease picture from the time of the Harriman Mission18 up to the present day. I stated that the Lend-Lease Act19 evidenced an intent on the part of the U.S. to mobilize in the Allied cause its every possible resource manpower, sea power and military and industrial strength; it also evidenced a determination to ally these resources to the struggle and to continue with its Allies until the purpose of the war had been accomplished, namely the establishment hope of a world in which man could live without fear. I concluded that the attainment of this purpose would require united effort of all Allied Nations not only now but during the postwar period and I defined the American-Soviet Agreement as a confirmation of our mutual interest in this collaboration. The British Ambassador again took pains to support my remarks.
Toasts were offered to the President, Churchill, and Stalin, the ranking guests present, to the Red Cross and to the armed forces of the three countries.
[For the second anniversary of the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, President Roosevelt sent a message to Premier Stalin, and Secretary of State Hull made a statement at a press conference on June 21, 1943. The texts are published in Department of State Bulletin, June 26, 1943, page 596.]
- Signed at Washington June 11, 1942; for text of the agreement and exchange of notes, see Department of State Executive Agreement Series No. 253, or 56 Stat. (pt. 2) 1500, or Department of State Bulletin, June 13, 1942, p. 531. See also the bracketed note, Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. iii, p. 708.↩
- Not printed; in this telegram Ambassador Standley reported the conclusion of the Izvestiya editorial as stating that the “Soviet-American agreement of June 11, 1942, as well as the Anglo-Soviet treaty of May 26, 1942, are the cornerstones underlying the foundations of victory and the edifice of a peace to be constructed by the friendly and united collaboration of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition.” (711.6111/13)↩
- Not printed.↩
- W. Averell Harriman, Special Representative of President Roosevelt, and Chairman of the Special Mission to the Soviet Union, with a British counterpart led by Lord Beaverbrook, held conferences in Moscow, September 29–October 1, 1941. For correspondence concerning this Mission, see Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. i, pp. 825–851, passim.↩
- Approved March 11, 1941; 55 Stat. 31.↩