Office of the Historian

601.6111/5–2650

The Embassy of the Soviet Union to the Department of State

[Translation]
No. 91

The Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics presents its compliments to the Department of State of the United States of America and in reply to the note of the Acting Secretary of State of May 18 [17] last has the honor to state the following.

1. The practice of inspecting the personal baggage of diplomatic couriers was not introduced by the Soviet agencies but by the American customs authorities at New York, and beginning with January 27 [29], 1950 the personal baggage of Soviet diplomatic couriers was inspected by them nine times. The Department of State was acquainted with the specific cases of such inspection three times: by an aide-mémoire of the Embassy of February 28 and by notes of March 18 and 30 of this year.1

The Embassy, of course, is agreeable to the proposal of the Department of State that in the future on the basis of reciprocity the inspection of the personal baggage of diplomatic couriers will not be carried out.

2. As regards the proposal set forth in the reference note of May 18 [17] regarding advance notification to the Department of State of the date of arrival in the USA of Soviet diplomatic couriers, it is the opinion of the Embassy that there is no necessity for change of the practices which existed up till recent times in accordance with [Page 1200] which the regularization of the documents of diplomatic couriers both in the USA and the USSR will be conducted out of order without advance notification of the arrival of the couriers.2

Washington, May 26, 1950.
  1. The notes of March 18 and 30 are not printed.↩
  2. In the course of a conversation with First Secretary of Embassy of the Soviet Union Tolokonnikov on May 31, John M. McSweeney reminded him that advance notification of the arrival of Soviet couriers had been suggested to the Embassy “many years ago in response to an inquiry.” Such notification was helpful “in attempting to accord the Soviet couriers appropriate courtesies” because of the heavy amount of air traffic at New York. This explanation seemed to be new to Mr. Tolokonnikov, but he said that “he would convey Mr. McSweeney’s suggestion to the Embassy again.” (601.6111/5–2650)↩