740.00116 European War 1939/1238: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:21 p.m.]
163. The wisdom of your message 8230 of December 302 was apparent before it arrived. A press report had been released on Russian participation which Mr. Pell3 tells me had presumably come from some member of the Commission talking out of turn. Mr. Pell called the news item to the attention of the Chairman. I believe that there will be less leakage at future meetings. I don’t think any harm was done.
The question of Russian conditional membership has not been formally raised at a meeting of the Commission. Mr. Eden,4 Sir Cecil Hurst5 and Mr. Pell all agree that the question of membership is the concern of governments and not of the Commission.
In discussing this point with Mr. Eden, he told me that his suggestion to the Russians of having a single representative with each republic having an advisor was not acceptable to them at the time he raised it. We might be in a stronger position to press this point with our 48 States. The Russians already know the British position. The British supporting Dominion representation makes plausible the Russian position.
- Ibid., p. 436.↩
- Herbert C. Pell, American representative on the United Nations War Crimes Commission.↩
- Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩
- British representative on the United Nations War Crimes Commission, and Chairman of the Commission.↩