V. I.

Lenin

169

TELEGRAM TO F. I. KOLESOV

Kolesov
Tashkent

We know little about the Caucasus and Baku.
Information is unverified. Soviet power exists in the Northern
Caucasus. Its troops are cut off from Tsaritsyn, which is
besieged from the south by the Cossacks. The British have
landed in Baku and the situation there is unstable. The
Germans have agreed to guarantee there will be no offensive
against Baku if we drive out the British from there. How matters will turn out there is not known. As regards the
military aid, we do not know where it is. We think it is held
up near
Tsaritsyn. [1]

As regards ambassadors and consuls, we advise a waiting
attitude, keeping them under threefold surveillance and
arresting suspicious individuals who are in contact with
them.

We are considering and preparing some assistance for you, but cannot promise anything for certain, for
everything depends on whether we shall be successful in driving
the British out of Baku or whether they succeed in capturing
a part of the Caspian coast.