861.24/5–1645
The Chargé of the Soviet Union (Novikov) to the Acting Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honor to submit for your information the following communication of my Government.54
“The Soviet Government has received the note of the Acting Secretary of State, Mr. Grew, of May 12 in reference to the discontinuance of deliveries to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease.
The note referred to and the discontinuance of deliveries have come as a complete surprise to the Soviet Government. Nevertheless, if the Government of the United States of America sees no other course, the Soviet Government is prepared to take cognizance of the above-mentioned decisions of the Government of the USA.”
Accept [etc.]
- On May 30 Mr. Novikov sent as a supplement to his note a statement with an enclosure of a “Request of the U.S.S.R. for supplies from the U.S.A. within the period July 1 through December 31, 1945” which had been handed to Ambassador Harriman in Moscow on May 29. The request listed military, naval, and quartermaster supplies, machinery and equipment, raw materials, foodstuffs, and miscellaneous products. A concluding note stated that specified items ordered but not shipped as of July 1, 1945, “must be shipped to the Soviet Union over and above the quantities” listed here. (861.24/5–3045)↩