Office of the Historian

761.6211/85: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, August 24, 1939—9 a.m.
[Received August 24—5:25 a.m.]

464. Preliminary treaty was signed early this morning in the Kremlin by Molotov and Ribbentrop.15 Stalin was present at the final conference. The pact consists of seven articles, of which the following is a brief summary:

The two countries agree:

(1)
To commit no act of aggression against each other direct or indirect against each other.
(2)
To refrain from supporting in any way any country at war with the other.
(3)
To consult with each other on questions of mutual interest.
(4)
To refrain mutually from associating with any group of powers aimed directly or indirectly against the interests of the other.
(5)
To settle any differences which might arise between the two countries by exclusively peaceful means.
(6)
The treaty shall last for 10 years, renewable for another 5; and,
(7)
The treaty shall be ratified within the shortest possible time by both Governments but will enter into force from the moment of signature.

Steinhardt
  1. For text of the Treaty of Nonaggression, with the secret additional protocol, between Germany and the Soviet Union signed at Moscow and dated August 23, 1939, see Nazi-Soviet Relations, 1939–1941, p. 76.↩