IO Files: US/A/C.1/90
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Robert McClintock, Adviser, United States Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly
I had a long conversation on the evening of December 4 with the Turkish Ambassador, Mr. Baydur. The Ambassador is an expert on the Soviet Union, having served a total of nine years on two separate tours of duty as Turkish Ambassador in Moscow.
Commenting on Molotov’s more conciliatory proposal on disarmament and control of armaments presented that morning to Committee 1,57 the Ambassador said that he could not possibly conceive of the Russians admitting any effective system of inspection no matter what Molotov had said in this regard. He thought that it was utterly contrary to the Russian nature, to say nothing of the inclinations of the Soviet regime, to admit foreign or international observers to check on the Soviet military position.
At the same time Ambassador Baydur said that he thought the Government in the Kremlin was seriously concerned by the internal situation in the U.S.S.R. He thought that the varied reports of dissatisfaction throughout the Soviet Union over high prices and the scarcity of consumers’ goods had undoubtedly a large basis of fact. He said in his opinion the Soviet people were utterly weary from the long strain that had been imposed upon them through successive five-year plans and the final crucial test of the war itself. Their primary desire as a people was peace and the Soviet Government, despite its bellicose statements, was now forced to recognize this desire.
The Ambassador said that the Soviet Government, following the termination of hostilities, had followed a policy of attempting to grab as much as possible in terms of power and territory, and that it had only been checked in this course by the final decision of the United States Government to stand firm against further encroachment. The firm American policy was now bearing fruit in this new conciliatory line now adopted by the Soviet Foreign Minister.
The Ambassador concluded by saying that the Russian high political command had learned a great deal from Hitler and would not repeat his mistake of pressing the rest of the world too far. He recalled in this connection the Fable of Aesop about the division of spoils between the lion, the fox, and the ass, the ass having been killed in the process. The Ambassador thought that the Russians would profit by the example of Hitler.