Date: 1921-11-30
Source: ru:ND

Comrade Radek! Please jot down a couple of words on your thoughts regarding this matter, and then promptly forward them to Chicherin, so that he too may respond to me.2*

30/XI.

Lenin.

Published in “Izvestia of the Central Committee of the CPSU,” 1990, No. 4, p. 188.

Fund No. 2, Inventory No. 1, File No. 27068 – autograph.

1The note was written in response to a letter from E. Gullingger, a correspondent for United Press, addressed to V.I. Lenin on November 28, 1921. The correspondent reported, citing the White House, that the American side intended to invite Russia and Germany to the Washington Conference for the ratification of its resolutions, while requesting Lenin’s opinion on this issue.

The Washington Conference on the Limitation of Naval Armaments, Pacific and Far Eastern Questions, took place from November 12, 1921, to February 6, 1922. Representatives of Soviet Russia were not invited; accordingly, in a note dated July 19, 1921, it was stated: “The Russian government solemnly declares that it will not recognize any decision adopted by the aforementioned conference, since this gathering is being held without its participation” (Documents of the Foreign Policy of the USSR, Vol. IV, Moscow, 1960, p. 225).

2G.V. Chicherin replied to V.I. Lenin on December 1, 1921: “I believe that the rumor about our supposed invitation was deliberately spread in order to intimidate France. Such momentous political changes do not occur so suddenly. In general, a great many American hoaxes are currently circulating. Briand has already refuted the interview attributed to him concerning British battleships designed for catching sardines. Yet the very fact that rumors about our invitation have begun to surface demonstrates how rapidly we are drawing nearer to our goal. The American petty-bourgeois masses are passionately interested in disarmament; their pacifism has infected the Republican administration, and it has now become clear that disarmament is impossible without an agreement with us.

Most important, I take note of Lapinsky’s report that a conference on Russian affairs is scheduled to convene in January. This, in turn, signifies negotiations with all parties—because it will become abundantly clear that without us, they can only bring disgrace upon themselves (a blamage—Ed.).

Gullingger is the most dangerous of all correspondents; he is sure to fabricate lies and peddle sensationalist stories. He is a true Nozdrev. In general, it is awkward to favor one while slighting others. Had the timing been more opportune, you should have granted a collective interview to representatives of the major American newspapers and newspaper groups. But it seems to me that the situation has not yet fully crystallized, and we do not yet know everything—so to act now would be risky” (Izvestia of the Central Committee of the CPSU, 1990, No. 4, p. 188).

Radek’s reply to Lenin has not been found.