196.6/1677
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 21.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s telegram number 1292, November 27, 194394 and previous telegrams on the subject [Page 940] of payments of rubles to American seamen in north Russian ports, and to inform the Department of the receipt from the Foreign Office of a memorandum dated January 14, 1944, a translation of which is as follows:
“With reference to the memorandum of the Embassy of the United States of America dated December 2, 1943 and its memorandum of December 10, 1943 the Embassy is hereby informed that the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade of the U.S.S.R. has instructed its representatives at northern ports of the Soviet Union to initiate the payment of sums of money to the crews of American vessels transporting war supplies to the Soviet Union, in accordance with the agreement reached between the Governments of the Soviet Union and the United States of America under the conditions set forth in the memorandum of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union dated September 23, 1943.95
“With reference to the question of the procedure for payments to crews of American vessels which are obliged to remain in Soviet ports for more than six weeks, the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade feels that such cases should be considered individually.”
The Embassy understands that rubles have already been furnished the representative of the War Shipping Administration in North Russia for the purpose of making these payments.
Respectfully yours,
Minister-Counselor
- Not printed.↩
- Not printed; but see telegram 1513, October 2, 1943, 10 a.m., from Moscow, and footnote 61, Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. iii, pp. 705–706.↩