740.00119 Control (Bulgaria)/2–2845: Telegram

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

580. ReDepts 279, February 9, 5 p.m.81 I have received a letter from Vyshinski dated February 26 in reply to Kennan’s letter to the [Page 165] Foreign Office requesting permission for a weekly Air Transport Command flight from Bari to Budapest via Athens, Sofia, Belgrade and Bucharest. Vyshinski says that because of war conditions and to avoid any misunderstandings or accidents the Soviet Command thinks it necessary to maintain the present procedure, whereby flights of American planes carrying service personnel or official mail are individually cleared with the Soviet Command on the basis of the established procedure.

Harriman
  1. Not printed; it instructed the Embassy to endeavor urgently to obtain blanket permission for a weekly American Air Transport Command plane to fly from Bari to Athens, Sofia, Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, and return carrying official passenger traffic including American diplomatic couriers and official mail (740.00119 Control (Bulgaria)/2–945).