800.014/6–2045

No. 734
The Soviet Ambassador (Gromyko) to the Secretary of State
[Translation]
secret

Dear Mr. Secretary: I am sending you herewith in accordance with your request expressed at the time of our conversation this morning, a copy of my letter and the letter of former Secretary of State Stettinius on the question of territorial trusteeships. We exchanged these letters while at San Francisco at the time of the United Nations Conference.

A. Gromyko
[Enclosure 1—Translation]
The Soviet Ambassador (Gromyko) to the Former Secretary of State (Stettinius)
secret

Text of Letter From Ambassador Gromyko Dated June 20, 1945, to Former Secretary of State Stettinius

On the 9th of June in the study of the American document on trusteeship, I informed the member of the American Delegation, Mr. Stassen, of the desire of my Government to acquire under trusteeship some territory in conformity with point 3, section b, of the said document.1 Mr. Stassen replied that he had to consult his Government on this question. The same day Mr. Stassen informed the member of the Soviet Delegation, Mr. Novikov, that the American Government was prepared to support the Soviet Government in the turning over to it of trusteeship territories. At the same time you, Mr. Secretary, in a conversation with me on June 9th confirmed your agreement to satisfying the desire expressed above of the Soviet Government.

In accordance with our agreement my Government has directed me to define more clearly the question of trusteeship territories for the U. S. S. R. I hope that you will agree to discuss this question before the termination of the present conference.

[Page 634]
[Enclosure 2]
The Former Secretary of State (Stettinius) to the Soviet Ambassador (Gromyko)2

My Dear Mr. Ambassador: I have your letter of June 20 in which you refer to the conversation which took place between Commander Stassen and yourself on June 9 concerning the attitude held by the Soviet Government with reference to territorial trusteeship and your desire that our two Governments should be in accord on this matter.

Commander Stassen promptly conveyed to me your point of view, stating that your Government would like to be assured of the favorable attitude of the United States if the Soviet Government, at some future time, proposed a territory for trusteeship. He added that you indicated that you had no specific territory in mind but that you hoped that the two Governments could agree in principle upon this question.

Commander Stassen also reported that he was certain that your Government understood that, in accordance with the Yalta agreement, no specific territories were to be discussed at San Francisco and that the method by which a trusteeship would arise would be by the state which had the jurisdiction over a territory making a proposal to the appropriate body of the Organization.3

I told Commander Stassen that I thought your point of view was eminently reasonable and that we would be happy to support in principle the Soviet proposal as to the eligibility of your Government as a potential administering authority.

Your letter of June 20 carries the point raised to a further stage beyond the principle agreed upon in the conversation. In accordance with the Yalta agreement no specific territories were to be discussed at the San Francisco Conference but I shall, of course, be glad to know your views on this subject, even though the matter falls outside the scope of the Conference. It might be more convenient, however, to both of us, to take this matter up after our return to Washington.

With kind regards [etc.]

[E. R. Stettinius]
  1. i. e., under the category of “territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of this war”. See The United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, California, April 25 to June 26, 1945: Selected Documents (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1946; Department of State publication No. 2490), p. 235.
  2. Enclosure 2 is a Russian translation of this paper, dated June 24. The text printed here is from the file copy of the English original (file No. 500. CC(PC)/9–2745).
  3. See document No. 1416, section i.