800.85/8–444: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 5—6:27 a.m.]
6242. For Berle and Land, WSA. In accordance with the procedure outlined in Embassy’s 6115, August 1, 6 p.m. and approved in the Department’s 6123, August 3, 3 p.m.,41 the Counselor of the Soviet Embassy in London, Mr. Koukin, was invited to the Foreign Office this morning where, in the presence of Allison, he was given an advance copy of the Agreement on Principles and its Annex which will be signed at the Inter-Allied Shipping Conference tomorrow morning.
Mr. Koukin expressed considerable interest in the Shipping Conference and raised the question of why the Soviet Government had not been invited to participate. It was pointed out that the British and American Ambassadors in Moscow had notified the Soviet Government of the Conference at the same time as the invitations were [Page 676] issued and had given the Soviet Foreign Office a copy of the Memorandum of Principles (as revised, now called the Agreement on Principles). It was also made clear that all of the countries who are attending the Shipping Conference are countries which had contributed ships to the existing United Nations shipping pool. Mr. Koukin stated that it is his personal opinion that the Soviet Government would be extremely interested in this new shipping agreement and stated it might wish to become a party to it. In such case he asked whether or not the Soviet Government would be entitled to a permanent seat on the Executive Board of the Central Authority for the control of ships, which at present is limited to four countries: U.S., U.K., Norway, the Netherlands. It was explained to him that the Executive Board was purposely being kept small in the interests of efficient operation, but that the annex to the agreement provides that the Executive Board may be enlarged as circumstances may require and that the claim of the Soviet Government to sit on the Board, should it subscribe to the agreement, undoubtedly would receive careful and sympathetic consideration.
Mr. Koukin apparently had some difficulty in understanding just when the agreement came into effect and when it would terminate. It was carefully explained to him that inasmuch as shipping tonnage of the nations represented at the Conference at present was under charter either to the Ministry of War Transport or to WSA and that these charters did not expire until the conclusion, or shortly after the conclusion of hostilities with Germany it was not necessary for the agreement to come into operation until that time. Mr. Koukin seemed particularly impressed when told that the agreement meant that all of the shipping tonnage of the nations subscribing to the agreement, with the exception of certain coastal tonnage, would be thrown into the common pool immediately upon the conclusion of hostilities with Germany and that this tonnage would be controlled by the Executive Board until six months after the conclusion of hostilities in the Far East. He expressed himself as satisfied with the explanation given and stated he would inform his Government.
Sent to Department, repeated to Moscow.
[For text of Agreement on Principles and Annex, signed at the Conference on August 5, 1944, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 1722, or 61 Stat. (pt. 4) 3784. The signed text was the same as that transmitted in telegram 5955, July 27, from London, printed on page 666, with minor modifications. The minutes of the meetings of the Conference, July 19–August 5, are not printed (800.85/8–1744).]
- Latter not printed.↩