861.24/500a: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt)
837. Department’s telegram No. 836, June 23.84 In answer to a question concerning aid to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease Act,85 Mr. Welles86 stated that according to the wording of the Act, the President was authorized to undertake the steps provided for in the Act concerning the assistance to those nations defending themselves against aggression; that the President alone could determine this question; and that the President had suggested that Mr. Welles state that the question could not be predetermined, since at the moment the President himself could not answer it. Mr. Welles added that since at the present time no official communication had been received from the Soviet Government regarding American assistance, the question remained hypothetical until such a communication was received.
Mr. Welles indicated that the question of releasing machine tools and other equipment for shipment to the Soviet Union was connected with the policy of the United States in regard to National Defense requirements and needs.