Urgent. Outside of any established order. Governmental
April 13, 1918
In response to your note concerning the Foreign Commissariat under
Centrosibir’ and the question of Siberia’s self‑determination, I deem it necessary
to state that, in the view of the Sovnarkom, there is absolutely no need for a Foreign
Commissariat under Centrosibir’; the so‑called “self‑determination” of Siberia would
only serve to formally facilitate the annexation of the East; you have before you the
examples of an independent Ukraine and Finland. I propose that we limit ourselves to
the autonomy of Siberia as an inseparable part of Russia, and instead establish an
institution of commissars attached to the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs,
from which you will receive directives and in whose name you will act.
Chairman of the Sovnarkom
Lenin