SOVIET DENIAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 June 1940, Page 6

SOVIET DENIAL

NO BREAK IN RELATIONS WITH GERMANY TROOP CONCENTRATIONS IN BALTIC. TALK OF ABSURD RUMOURS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. MOSCOW, June 22. The Moscow radio announced that numerous rumours had recently been circulating abroad of alleged Soviet troop concentrations on the Lithuanian border. It had also been claimed that the Soviet was dissatisfied with German successes in the west and that German-Soviet relations had deteriorated.

The Tass News Agency said it was authorised to declare that these rumours were without foundation. The absurdity of them was evident. The number of Soviet divisions in the Baltic countries was neither 100 to 150, as alleged, but only 18 or 20, which were not concentrated on the LithuanianGerman border, but distributed among the three Baltic Republics. They did not serve the purpose of pressing upon Germany, but of providing a guarantee for the carrying out of the assistance pact between the Soviet and these States.

The Tass agency adds: “Responsible Soviet circles are of opinion that these absurd rumours are intended to serve the definite purpose of upsetting Ger-man-Soviet relations. The authors of the reports had fallen prey to their own wishful thinking. They are unable to realise that the good-neigh-bourly relations between Germany and Russia, which resulted from their nonaggression pact, cannot be disturbed by rumours and lies. These relations are not motivated by ephemeral considerations, but arc rooted in the common interests of Germany and Russia.”