740.00119 European War 1939/2564: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
3611. The Department is willing to accept the text of the proposed tripartite statement on the satellite countries as revised by the British Cabinet and transmitted in your 3628 May 3 with only one modification. In order to preserve the thought of satellite responsibility and [Page 606] at the same time avoid undue discouragement we would prefer the following language for numbered paragraph 3:
“3. While these nations cannot escape their responsibility for having participated in the war at the side of Nazi Germany, the longer they continue at war in collaboration with Germany the more disastrous will be the consequences to them and the more rigorous will be the terms which will be imposed upon them.”
Please ask the British Foreign Office if it is agreeable to the foregoing modification of the text as revised by the British Cabinet and state that it is being submitted in this form to Moscow for Soviet approval. As soon as British and Soviet approval has been received the Department will again fix a date for release using the same hours as previously arranged.63
Repeated to Moscow.64