PEACE TERMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24832, 2 March 1944, Page 5

PEACE TERMS

OFFER TO FINLAND SOVIET CONDITIONS BREAK WITH GERMANY INTERNING TROOPS (Real. 7.90 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 'ill The Russian terms for peace with Finland, which Madam© Kollontay, Soviet Ambassador to Sweden, presented in Stockholm to M. Paasikivi, the Finnish envoy, on February 16, are announced as follows:

(1) Finland to break with Germany and German troops and warships in Finland to be interned. The Soviet has stated its willingness to assist in this task.

(2) The re-establishment of the Soviet-Finnish treaty of 1940 and the withdrawal of Finnish troops to the 1940 frontier. Demobilisation Question (3) The immediate return of Soviet and Allied prisoners of war, also of interned civilians. (4) Tlxo question of demobilisation to be left pending negotiations in Moscow. (5) The question of reparations to be left for negotiations in Moscow. (6) The question concerning the Petsamo region to be left pending negotiations in Moscow.

M. Paasikivi was told that if the Finnish Government is ready to accept the armistice terms the Soviet Government is ready to receive a Finnish delegate. The Moscow radio broadcast a statement which was issued by the Soviet Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. It began by declaring that negotiations between Finland and Russia had not yet started. "A Swedish industrialist in the middle of February informed Madame Kollontay of M. Paasikivi's arrival in Stockholm with authority to discover peace conditions," continued the statement. "Madame Kollontay stated that the Soviet Government had no reason to trust the present Finnish Government, but failing other means, was ready to conduct negotiations. An unofficial meeting was held on February 16 between M. Paasikivi and Madame Kollontay, when M. Paasikivi asked for conditions. At the next meeting Madame Kollontay stated the terms." Terms Regarded as Generous Observers in Moscow believe that Finland will be out of the war irr a matter of days, says Router's correspondent in the Soviet capital. The announcement of Finland's peace move and the Soviet terms for an armistice created intense excitement and interest in Moscow.

Allied circles regard the Soviet terms as extremely generous, embodying a constructive and statesmanlike approach to post-war issues, in addition to immediate problems. The Helsinki radio broadcast a speech by the acting-Prime Minister, M. Tanner, in which he said: "Finland has never gone through such an ordeal as this war. It is a fight for death, not a fight for life. People who have gone through such a trial have a right to expect that their sufferings will be taken into account."

The Berlin radio to-night quoted the text of a brief communique issued after the meeting of tho Finnish Parliament, stating t/hnt Parliament approved the report by tho Prime Minister, Professor Linkomies, on the political situation.

Confidence in Government Unconfirmed private reports from Helsinki say that tho Finnish Parliament, after passing a vote of confidence in the Government, entrusted it with further investigation of the Russian terms and tho possibility of obtaining Anglo-American guarantees. The Stockholm correspondent of the Associated Press states that the Finnish Parliament hold two secret sessions during the day, lively party debates occurring on tho peaco issues. The correspondent adds that any official statement in the near future is likely to bo inconclusive and to leave tho armistico question open for further negotiation. The London correspondent of tho New York newspaper P.M., says tho Germans aro reported to be already withdrawing some of their troops from northern Finland by sea.

DANGEROUS TALK KISKA INVASION DATE (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) NEW YORK, Feb. 20 Unauthorised persons, military and civilian, so openly discussed the date fixed for the invasion of Kiska, August 15, at the embarkation port of Seattle that the Japanese had full knowledge of tho impending invasion, enabling them to get out thousands of troops and great quantities of material, said Major Albert Stowe, of the Army Intelligence Department. "There were no Japanese on the island when the troops arrived," Major Stowe added, "but so accurately and so early were the Japanese advised that had they decided to fight and reinforced the defenders, tho Allied forces might have been annihilated." .