EFFECT OF SOVIET MOVE

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20912, 18 September 1939, Page 7

EFFECT OF SOVIET MOVE

BRITAIN AND FRANCE PREPARED RUSSIAN NOTE HANDED TO POWERS OBJECT OF FREEING PEOPLE FROM WAR (Official Wireless) (Received Sept. 18, 11.30 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 17 Well-informed quarters here discourage speculative interpretations of the significance of the reported Soviet turn of events some of which tend to go far ahead of the news itself in forecasting far-reaching developments. What can he said with confidence is that from the date of the Soviet-German pact the possibility of the re-orienta-tion of the Soviet policy along the lines to which it may now he turning has never been overlooked in responsible circles, and it may therefore he assumed that if the Soviet Government has decided to take the role ascribed to it in current reports this event will not find the British and French Governments unprepared in their calculations. The Russian note has been handed to representatives of all nations with which Russia has diplomatic relations. It is largely along the lines of M. Molotoff’s broadcast, and gives notice of the intention of the Red Army to march with the object of freeing the Polish people from war and give them an opportunity of beginning a peaceful life. The Polish Embassy at Paris denies the Russian allegation that the Polish Government is no longer in Poland. The announcer, in broadcasting this, added that the Russian move has caused a sensation in Lithuania, where the Government and other leaders immediately conferred.