Office of the Historian

760C.61/4–2145: Telegram

The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kennan) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, April 21, 1945—4 p.m.
[Received April 21—12:10 p.m.]

1289. With further reference to the Department’s 899, April 17, 7 p.m. and my 1231, April 18, noon58 and 1286, April 21, 1 p.m. concerning the possible conclusion of a Soviet-Polish pact,59 the following is the substance of the letter just received from Vyshinski:

“The signature of a pact between the Soviet Union and Poland in the spirit of the treaties already concluded with Great Britain,60 Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia is completely timely and corresponds in full to the aspirations and vital interests of the Polish and Soviet peoples. Such a step would therefore be entirely natural and should not arouse any anxiety inasmuch as it is directed toward the strengthening of friendly relations between Poland and the Soviet Union.

“The above considerations and the fact that the Soviet Government has already informed the Polish Provisional Government of its agreement to the conclusion of a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance do not permit the postponement of the signature of this treaty,61 which undoubtedly has great importance for the further strengthening of the United Nations.

“I would be grateful to you, Mr. Chargé d’Affaires, if you would bring the above to the attention of the American Government.”

The British Chargé has received a similar communication.

[Kennan]
  1. Latter not printed, but, see footnote 51, p. 227.↩
  2. Not printed; it reported receipt of a negative reply from Vyshinsky to the American request that no action be taken toward the conclusion of a pact with Poland pending discussions with Molotov in Washington (760C.61/4–2145).↩
  3. For text of the treaty of alliance in the war against Hitlerite Germany and her associates in Europe, and collaboration and mutual assistance thereafter between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, signed at London on May 26, 1942. see League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. cciv, p. 353; see also telegrams 2897 of May 24, 1942, and 2922 of May 26, 1942, from London, Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. iii, pp. 558 and 564, respectively.↩
  4. For text of the agreement regarding friendship, mutual assistance, and postwar cooperation between the Soviet Union and the Polish Republic (National Council of the Homeland), signed in Moscow on April 21, 1945, see Department of State, Documents and State Papers, vol. i, No. 4 (July 1948), p. 231, or United Nations Treaty Series, vol. xii (1948), No. 70, p. 391.↩