740.0011 European War 1939/10458
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
The Soviet Ambassador called to see me this afternoon at his request. The Ambassador inquired what my views might be with regard to the recent turn of events in eastern Europe.37
I said that I could only assume that the turn of events must inevitably prove to be profoundly disquieting to the Soviet Government. The Ambassador expressed his agreement.
The Ambassador then told me that he was instructed to read to me certain statements which had recently been published in the officially inspired Soviet press concerning the pact between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.38 Certain of these statements which he read to me were significant, one of them declaring specifically that the Soviet Government believed that the present government of Yugoslavia was supported by 90 per cent of public opinion in Yugoslavia and that the new government had sincerely desired in every way to avoid being drawn into war. Another statement referred to the attack by Germany upon Yugoslavia as “one of unprovoked aggression”.
I told the Ambassador that I was very glad to receive these statements which he had read to me and that I was happy to see that on this matter the opinions of his Government and of my own Government were identical.
The Ambassador said he thought it would be very useful for both countries and for the world at large if the opinions of both governments in all that related to foreign policy were identical. He said, of course, this would be greatly facilitated if all controversies between the two governments were eliminated. He again brought up [Page 736] the economic question, saying that the political aspect of foreign policy was complementary and supplementary to the economic aspect. He said it was a matter of deep disappointment to him that this Government continued to take the position it did with regard to the former Baltic republics.
I stated to the Ambassador that I had covered this matter with him, I thought, finally, and that I felt there was nothing I could add to the expression of policy I had laid down in a recent conversation with him.
- Germany began its invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece on April 6, 1941. The interest of the United States in these events is recorded in vol. ii , sections under Greece and Yugoslavia.↩
- Treaty of friendship and nonaggression signed at Moscow on April 5, 1941; for text, see British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cxliv, p. 878.↩