761.94/1241: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:30 p.m.]
1584. My 1577, November 19, 1 p.m.95 Further intimations from the same source96 referred to in my telegram under reference would indicate that at least one of the conditions which the Soviet Union is demanding for the conclusion of an agreement with Japan is the entire abandonment of the Japanese coal and oil concessions on the northern part of Sakhalin.
I have learned from another diplomatic source that the Soviet conditions have been conveyed directly or indirectly to the Japanese Ambassador here. The Japanese, however, according to my informant, are at the present time not disposed to relinquish their concessions on the northern part of Sakhalin which would be in conformity with the statements of the Japanese Ambassador to me reported in my No. 1466, November 1, 6 p.m., in regard to the importance to Japan of these concessions.