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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated on 1st and  2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.

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G. A. Astakhov to the peopleʹs commissariat of foreign affairs of the

USSR

July 8, 1939 top secret

According to the Turkish and French ambassadors, as well as the Romanian and Greek envoys who were at my dinner yesterday,

Kyoseivanovʹs visit here is not related to the discussion of any specific issues and, like Paul’s visit, will not entail practical consequences, except for general declarative kind statements. The Romanian spoke about this with particular confidence. The Turk, in contrast to his previous tactics, bitterly complained about the Germans adopting a hostile line towards Turkey, which they accuse of breaking their promise to pursue a policy of neutrality. Soon he leaves and confidentially confessed that he is unlikely to return to berlin. Coulondre is very concerned about the outcome of our negotiations with England. He approves of the tactics of forcing the British to fulfill broader and more precise commitments but freezes in horror at the thought that negotiations may end in vain. Everyone is very gloomy about Hitlerʹs immediate intentions. Active actions are expected to follow in august with respect to Danzig and Slovakia. The annexation of Danzig to the Reich will first be announced in the form of a resolution of the Danzig senate, after which the Germans will wait for what Poland will do. Everyone reported that the Italian ambassador Attolico had officially assured a number of colleagues that nothing would be done by Germany in the coming months. He expects events (assuring, however, that they will not lead to war) only in the second half of august.

Charge dʹaffaires of the rf wua, f. 059, on. 1, p. 294, d. 2036, l. 131‐132.