PEACE PACT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1939, Page 5

PEACE PACT

THE NEW ANGLO-FRENCH PROPOSALS EXCHANGE OF GUARANTEES WITH RUSSIA. PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO BALTIC STATES. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. LONDON, June 29. Tlie Paris correspondent oi' “The Times’’ says it is understood that Britain and Prance are willing' to give Russia reciprocal guarantees of automatic assistance against a direct aggression or an aggression against States whose integrity is vital to the three signatories. They are also willing to refer particularly to the Baltic States in an annex pac-t. SOVIET MANOEUVRES SIGNIFICANT NORTHWARD MOVE. MOSCOW. June 28. It is officially stated that the Red Army manoeuvres in September will be carried out in the vicinity of Leningrad. The manoeuvres usually take place near the western frontiers. The decision to transfer them northward reflects Russia's concern regarding the Baltic States and Finland’s proposed fortification of the Aaland Islands. SOVIET STATEMENT DEMOCRACIES CRITICISED. TRYING TO TREAT RUSSIA AS “HIRED MAN.” (Received This Day. 9 a.m.) MOSCOW, June 29. The Soviet’s Press Chief M. Zhdanoff. in an article in the “Pravda,” in anticipation of a renewed approach by the British Ambassador, Sir William Seeds, and M. Naggiar (French Ambassador) to M. Molotov, declares: "Everything indicates that Britain and France do not want an agreement based on equality and reciprocity. They want an agreement under which Russia will play the role of a hired man, carrying on his shoulders the entire burden. No self-respecting country will accept such an agreement if it does not want to be a plaything in the hands of people wanting somebody to pull their hot coals from the fire. “It seems that Britain and France only want conversations about an agreement in order to exploit Russia’s imaginary stubbornness in their own countries, thus helping them to strike a'bargain with the aggressors. Despite the extreme clarity of Russia’s position, there has not been any appreciable progress in the negotiations, which have entered a blind alley. This cannot fail to have serious significance in the present international situation and will stimulate the aggressors to further activity.”