24

Maloney to Department of External Affairs

Cablegram S10 [1] MOSCOW, 19 January 1944, 8.40 p.m.

IMMEDIATE SECRET

Your telegram 9 [2], my telegram S.7 last paragraph. [3]

M. Molotov [4] was not able to receive me until this afternoon when I spoke to him in accordance with your above-mentioned telegram.

2. M. Molotov said that the attitude of his Government was clearly expressed in the communiques of January 11th [5] and January 17th [6] and he had nothing to add. I informed him that you had seen in the communique of January 11th a possibility of settlement and had asked me to advise M. Molotov accordingly. M. Molotov replied that the Soviet was not prepared to deal with the Polish Government in London or with persons who had had associations with the Fascists.

They were prepared to deal with a Government elected by the Democratic forces of the Polish people in England, America and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

3. M. Molotov quite clearly gave me the belief that nothing short of a new Polish Government elected in the manner he stated would be acceptable to the Soviet Government for any negotiations of the Polish question.

MALONEY

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1 Repeated to London as no. 10.

2 Document 17.

3 Cablegram S7 of 18 January (in AA: A3195, 1944, 1.2187), refers to an unrelated issue. The reference intended was probably cablegram S3, dispatched 11 January (on file AA: A989, 44/715/5/2, ii), the last paragraph of which read: ‘One thing seems clear-that time is short and that it may be the last opportunity for the Polish Government in London to re-establish relations. In case this may be so, the Polish Government would seem wise to take advantage of the offers to re-establish relation to become parties to the recent Treaty and to try and find some settlement of the frontier problem, even if it means some drastic change in personnel and acceptance of the big sacrifice at Danzig in the East [sic] in return for concessions in the North and West.’ 4 Soviet Foreign Minister.

5 See Maloney’s cablegram 9 of 11 January. On file AA: A989, 44/715/5/2, ii.

6 See Maloney’s cablegram 14 of 17 January, on the file cited in note 5.

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[AA:A989, 44/715/5/2, ii]