861.24/12–1944
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador of the Soviet Union (Gromyko)52
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Ambassador of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and with reference to the aide-mémoire of the Department of State of July 6, 1944 proposing an exchange of notes embodying the principle of consultation between the Governments of the United States and the Soviet Union before any articles or materials similar to those received from the United States under Lend-Lease are transferred by the Soviet Government to third countries or authorities, invites the attention of the Ambassador to the fact that no reply has been received to this proposal. The United States Government requests, therefore, that the following be brought to the attention of the Soviet Government.
In accordance with the basic objective of the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, the United States Government naturally expects as a mutter of principle that the governments of all countries which are receiving assistance from the United States through the medium of this Act and agreements supplementary thereto will consult with the appropriate authorities of the United States Government before transferring [Page 1158] to third countries or authorities through sale or other act any articles or materials similar to those received under Lend-Lease from the United States. In the case of the United Kingdom, for instance, this principle has been embodied in the form of an exchange of notes with the United States Government such as was proposed in the aide-mémoire of the Department of State referred to above. Whether or not such formal agreements exist, the United States Government considers that this principle applies to all countries receiving Lend-Lease assistance. The United States Government is, of course, prepared to give sympathetic consideration to any request from countries receiving Lend-Lease supplies for the concurrence of this Government in proposed transfers to third countries or authorities, since it recognizes that in certain instances such transfers might be directly connected with the furtherance of the common war effort.
In the event that articles or materials similar to those received from the United States under Lend-Lease are in fact transferred by any receiving government to third countries, other than in accordance with the principle of consultation and agreement with this Government, the United States Government will regard such transfers as evidence that the government in question no longer needs from the United States the specific articles or materials thus transferred.
- Handed to Ambassador Gromyko by Mr. Acheson on December 19, with an explanation as suggested in Mr. Matthews’ memorandum of December 6, 1944, not printed. In reply to questions, Mr. Acheson said the note set forth the American position as understood by other governments and that a written report of the Soviet attitude would be in the interest of clarity.↩