RUSSIAN REQUEST REFUSED

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24547, 21 April 1945, Page 7

RUSSIAN REQUEST REFUSED

Polish Delegates To San Francisco / AMERICAN REPLY TO NOTE (Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 19. The United States State Department has rejected a second Russian request that the Polish Provisional Government in Warsaw should be invited to attend the San Francisco conference. The text of the statement by the Secretary of State (Mr Edward R. Stettinius) is as follows;—“A Note received from the Soviet Government reiterates the Soviet request that the present Provisional Government now functioning in Warsaw should be invited to send a representative to the conference at San Francisco. Poland is a member of the United Nations and of right should be at San Francisco. However, the view of the United States Government remains that an invitation should be extended only to the new Provisional Government of National Unity formed in accordance with the Crimea agreement.” The Moscow radio announced that the Polish Provisional President (Mr Beirut) and the Prime Minister (Mr Morawski), accompanied by Army chiefs, had arrived in Moscow. "We have arrived to express in the name of the Polish people our wish for a guarantee of permanent peace,” said Mr Beirut in a broadcast address. "The foundation of a lasting peace is the most important task at this moment when victory is practically achieved.”

“Mr Stettinius has announced that the United States delegation has reached an agreement on all the major problems of the San Francisco Con* ference,” reports the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times. ’ ‘‘However, well-informed circles say the delegates have not yet fixed a course regarding trusteeships for the Pacific islands, the voting precedes in the Security Council and the Polish government problem, “These issue* are still m a fluid state and may be settled at a meeting of the ‘Big Four Foreign Ministers in Washington this week-end. ‘‘Mr Truman, Mr Stettinius, the Secretary of War (Mr Henry L. Stunson), and the Secretary of the Navy (Mr James V. Porrestal) are reported to have discussed the trusteeship issue to-day and adopted a formula protecting the United States’s vital interests. It is learned that Mr Forrestal and Mr Stinjson have been attending the American delegates' meetings in

the last few days, and it is understood that they have urged the delegation not to commit Itself Jo a formula exacting the surrender of island bases considered essential for American security. As a result the delegates are believed to be unlikely to endorse a formula for international control.” “The designation of Mr Molotov as a delegate to San Francisco was brought about entirely through Mr Truman's personal alertness." jays the Washington correspondent of the “New York Sun.” "A few hour* after Mr Truman was sworn in Mr Stalin personally telephoned offering bis sympathy and expressing a sinpere desire to co-operate with the new president m every way possible. “Mr Stalin spoke through an interpreter and asked; ’What can I do for you, Mr President?’ Mr Truman immediately replied: ‘Russia could send Mr Molotov to the conference, Mr Stalin stalled for a few moments and eventually said: ‘All right, Mr President; Mr Molotov will go tows you,’ M