Office of the Historian

711.5622/5–450: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union 1

confidential
niact
Washington, May 4, 1950—8 p. m.

377. You are requested present fol note to FonOff May 5.2 Text being released to press Washington May 5, 10:30 a. m. EST.3 “The Ambassador of the US of A presents his complements to the MinFonAff of the USSR and, with reference to the Ministry’s note of April 21 regarding the lost Amer airplane, has the honor to communicate the fol:

The Govt of the USA notes that the Govt of the USSR continues to refer to an Amer airplane of the B–29 type, which allegedly penetrated Sov terr on April 8, despite the fact that it has been made clear that the only Amer mil airplane in the Baltic area on April 8 was a USN airplane of the Privateer type. The USG reiterates that this USN airplane was unarmed and was at no time over Sov or Sov-occupied terr or terr waters. It is thus apparent that the Sov Govt’s account of this incident is not factual. The reply of the Govt of the USSR to the USG’s communication of Apr 18 makes it obvious that the Govt of the USSR continues to base its position on the erroneous account which it put forward shortly after the incident occurred and that it has failed to carry out the careful investigation suggested by the Govt of the US which wld enable it to correct these errors.

The US Govt categorically denies that the Amer airplane violated Sov or Sov-occupied terr and rejects as wholly without foundation the protest contained in the last paragraph of the note of the Ministry of FonAff of Apr 21.

In these circumstances the Govt of the US has no alternative but to conclude that the Govt of the USSR has not only failed to meet but has no intention of mtg the obligations which internatl law and practice impose on members of the family of nations. It is clear that this disregard for law, custom and the opinion of mankind constitutes a further obstacle to the establishment of harmonious relations among nations and cannot be reconciled with the Sov Govt’s continued protestations of its devotion to the cause of peace.

It is clearly impossible to resolve this issue so long as the Sov Govt refuses to base its position upon the facts of the case. The Sov Govt [Page 1191] must, however, bear the responsibility both for the action of its Air Force and for the manner with which it has dealt with this incident. The Govt of the US must warn the Govt of the USSR of the seriousness with which it regards the attitude of the Govt of the USSR in matters of such grave consequence.”

Acheson
  1. This telegram was cleared with both the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense. It was also read and approved by the President.↩
  2. In telegram 1286 from Moscow on May 5 Ambassador Kirk advised that he had presented this note as No. 64, dated May 5, to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko at 3:45 p. m., because Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyshinsky was “unavailable.” The Ambassador stated that the note was “short and to the point.” Gromyko read it and said that it “will be studied.” (711.5622/5–550)↩
  3. The text of this note of May 5 was released on that day; see Department of State Bulletin, May 15, 1950, pp. 753–754. The text of the note of April 21 from the Soviet Union was released at the same time, ibid., p. 754.↩