361.11 Employees/361: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 29—3:47 p.m.]
1156. Department’s 321, December 28, 6 p.m. As the result of continued pressure the local authorities at Grozny have granted permission for all the American engineers employed by Max B. Miller and Company there to proceed to Moscow for the purpose of validating their passports but after promising transportation now claim that none is presently available. The statement by Machinoimport that the engineers “for unknown causes insist on leaving” is a deliberate evasion in that for nearly a week Machinoimport has known the reason for the proposed trip and Grozenft6 at the instigation of Machinoimport misrepresented to the engineers several days ago that arrangement has been made with the Embassy as a result of which the trip was unnecessary. As Machinoimport has in no way and at no time been in communication with the Embassy this misrepresentation could only have been made for the purpose of misleading the engineers into believing the trip to Moscow to be unnecessary.
The substance of the Department’s telegraphic instruction under reference was conveyed to Potemkin in my communication of December 25 to which he has not yet replied.
- The Grozny oil organization operating the oil fields at Grozny.↩