761.62/754: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:52 p.m.]
1391. My 1359, October 17, noon. The Turkish Ambassador last night gave me the following details which he said he had learned from an extremely confidential source concerning the German Ambassador’s talk with Molotov. He said that Schulenburg had assured the Soviet Government that from the point of view [of] the German Government there had been no change in Soviet-German relations which the Germans considered to be very good. He had informed Molotov that the German troops in Rumania had been sent there at the specific request of the Rumanian Government for the purpose of training the Rumanian Army and of protecting the oil fields and “for no other purpose” and had given assurances that the Soviet Government [Page 571] would be represented on the Danube Commission. In addition Schulenburg had in effect offered the Soviet Government what amounted to a free hand in Iran and had expressed the desire of the German Government for the conclusion of a Soviet-Japanese pact.