740.00119 Control (Germany)/2–1348
The Soviet Ambassador ( Panyushkin ) to the Acting Secretary of State ( Lovett )1
On instructions from the Soviet Government I hereby have the honor to communicate to you the following:
The Soviet Government has learned from the press that the Governments of Great Britain, the United States of America and France intend to convene in London on February 19 a conference to discuss questions concerning Germany. According to published communiqués, it is proposed to consider at this conference questions:
Concerning the general policy of Great Britain, the United States and France with respect to Germany;
Concerning the future structure of western Germany;
Concerning control of the Ruhr;
Questions of security, reparations, etc.
The Soviet Government considers it necessary to draw the attention of the Government of the USA to the fact that the convocation of such a conference for the consideration of questions which lie within the competence of all the Powers occupying Germany and which affect other European countries would be a violation of the Potsdam Agreement and of other decisions, adopted by the Four Powers, in accordance with which responsibility for the administration of Germany and for the determination of policy with respect to Germany is borne jointly by the occupying Powers, which is incompatible with separate activities.2
The Soviet Government at the same time brings to your attention that in accordance with the Declaration on the defeat of Germany of June 5, 19453 the Governments of the Four Powers occupying Germany took upon themselves supreme authority, including all authority [Page 339] of which the German Government disposed, and consequently obligated themselves to determine “the status of Germany or of any region which at the present time is a part of German territory”.
The questions which are subject to consideration at the London conference of the representatives of Great Britain, the United States and France are questions which can be decided only with the common consent of all the powers occupying Germany.
The convocation of this conference in London is a violation of the Agreement on the control mechanism in Germany and a violation of the Potsdam decision for treating Germany as a unit.
In connection with the foregoing the Soviet Government considers it necessary to inform the Government of the USA that it will not consider as legal decisions which may be adopted at this conference.
- A marginal handwritten notation on the original Russian text of this communication, filed separately under 740.00119 Council/2–1348, indicates that it was handed to Acting Secretary of State Lovett by Soviet Ambassador Panyushkin at 11:30 a. m. on February 13, 1948. Identic notes were delivered to the United Kingdom Government on February 13 and to the French Government on February 16: see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, The Soviet Union and the Berlin Question (Documents) (Moscow: 1948), pp. 5–6.↩
- In a communication to the Department of State dated February 15, not printed, translated in the Department of State, the Soviet Embassy requested that the concluding clause “which is incompatible with separate activities” be changed to read “with which the separate actions are incompatible”. (740.00119 Control (Germany)/2–1548)↩
- For text, see Department of State Bulletin, June 10, 1945, p. 1052.↩