740.00/2133
The British Ambassador (Lindsay) to the
Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Moffat)
Washington, August 26,
1939.
Dear Moffat: I enclose herein a copy of the
latest telegram which we have had from the Foreign Office regarding the
international situation.
Yours sincerely,
[Enclosure—Extract]
Telegram of August 24th
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Russia.
Molotov’s reply to our enquiry
- (a)
- Interpreted unpreparedness of Anglo-French Military Missions
to deal with fundamental point such as passage of Soviet troops
through Polish and Roumanian territories as insincerity.
- (b)
- Denied bad faith in accepting German proposal for negotiations
without informing this Government or France.
Asked whether non-aggression pact with Germany meant that Russia
would allow Poland to be overrun, M. Molotov replied that we must
wait and see how negotiations with Ribbentrop would work out. After
a bit, say a week, negotiations with France and this country might
be continued.
Poland.
If approached you should take the line that report about
Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact should be treated with calm and
reserve; its consequences being as yet unpredictable. It does not
modify attitude of His Majesty’s Government or relations between
this Government and Poland. French Government are of like mind.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
