740.00119 E.W./10–1344: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 13—4:35 p.m.]
3930. ReDept’s 2381, October 7, 2 p.m. At a meeting this afternoon Molotov handed to Clark Kerr and myself the Russian proposals for Hungarian armistice terms.
This document is now in process of translation and I may wire further details at a later hour.
The proposals are along the general lines of those finally agreed upon in the case of Rumania. The reparations clause is almost identical in wording with that contained in the Rumanian agreement but the sum demanded by the Soviet Union is 400 million dollars instead of 300 million, the period for payment is 5 years instead of 6 and there are slight changes in the types of commodities envisaged.
In view of the presence of the Prime Minister27 and Eden in Moscow the British will probably be able to act rapidly in this matter and I do not wish to delay the proceedings any more than necessary. I should appreciate immediate authorization to negotiate on the basis of the Russian draft according to the general tenor of the Department’s previous instructions with respect to the Rumanian armistice allowing for appropriate alterations where necessary to meet the peculiarities of the Hungarian situation. In this case I would not have to wire the whole Russian draft in detail to the Department for consideration before joining in discussions and I believe we would be able to make rapid progress here.
In particular since the clause on reparations may well again prove one of the most difficult and important points I hope the Department will be able to let me have our Government’s views in this respect without delay.
It has been agreed that we will meet again tomorrow to discuss the Hungarian terms and it would be most helpful if I could have a reply to this message before going into that meeting.
Sent to London as 211 and to Rome as No. 1.
- British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill.↩