861.85/264: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Standley) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 23—10:30 p.m.]
725. In conversation with Molotov yesterday I inquired as to the situation in regard to the seizure by the Japanese of the Soviet ships in the Pacific. Molotov stated that the Japanese Ambassador had been invited to Moscow to discuss this question and that the Japanese had promised to release the Ingune [Ingul] and the Kamenets Podolsk.28 I questioned the value of the Japanese promises. Molotov making a gesture of derision remarked that the Russians knew the Japanese well enough not to place too great a reliance on Japanese promises. He added that as the ships had been seized illegally the Soviet Government would insist upon their release.
Ward has reported that he is informed that the vessels are already released.29
- These vessels were former American merchant ships acquired by the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease provisions: Ingul, formerly Pacific Oak; Kamenets Podolsk, formerly Vermar.↩
- In telegram No. 795, July 3, 11 a.m., Ambassador Standley reported that although these ships had been released, the Japanese had now seized another. Molotov had commented that “the Japanese are always seizing something that does not belong to them.” (861.85/266)↩