Evening star., 1934-07-22
DISCUSS RUSSIAN
DEBTS THIS WEEK
Troyanovsky and State De-
partment Ready to Re-
sumo Negotiations.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Negotiations for settlement OF
debts and claims estimated at be-
tween $400, 0,000 900 and $500 600, 900
will begin between Alexander Troy
anovsky, the Soviet Ambassador, and
State Department officials early this
week.
After months of futile discussions
between William c. Bullitt. the
American Ambassador, and Maxim
Litvinoff, Soviet commissar Of foreign
affairs, In Moscow, the negotiations
we're transferred here in hopes the
new scene and new negotiators would
serve to break the existing deadlock.
The State Departments announce
ment was made after conference
yesterday between Troyanovsky and
r. Walton Moore, Assistant Secretary.
Resumption of negotiations here
under more favorable circumstances
is expected to result in an early and
amicable settlement. Trade between
the two nations is now frozen largely
because of failure to achieve a
settlement.
Trade Increase Fails.
The United States now ranks fifth
in purchases by Russia, and expecta-
tions of greatly increased trade as a
result of recognition have failed to
materialize.
The debts and claims by Americans
against Soviet Russia are based on
these items:
1-s187, 900, 900 loaned by the
United States Treasury in 1917 dur
ing the World War to the Kerensky
provisional government. Kerensky.
who led the revolution which toppled
the Russian Cars from their throne
was then supported by the Allies, but
was later overthrown by the Bolshe-
visits. The Soviets have always con-
tested the validity of the claim be-
cause the debt was contracted by a
prior government whose acts they
repudiated. Litvinoff, during the dis
cussions with President Roosevelt
which led to recognition by this
country. however. agreed TO settle
ment of the question through dipIo-
matte negotiations.
CZarist Debt Defaulted.
2-$86, 100000 in three issues of i'm
perial Russian bonds fioated by New
York banking institutions before the
United States entered the war, which
have since been defaulted.
3-Claims of American corporations
and individuals for an unrevealed
amount for damages alleged to have
been suffered through conflscation of
their property by the Soviets' ma
tionalization of property decree. Over
1000 claims against the Soviet are
on file in the State Department, in
Guiding several by American corpora
t1onS involving many millions
To offset those claims the Soviets
have made a counter claim for an un-
disclosed amount based on alleged
damage reputed to have been caused
by American troops during the allied
occupation of the Archangel region in
Northern Russia at the end of the
war.
u. S. Terms Liberal
The Soviets' insistence on being
granted loans or credits in this coun-
try, with which to make additional
purchases of goods necessary to the
success of the five-year plan, was un-
derstood to have been the chief point
on which the Moscow negotiations
broke down.
The State Department and the
Soviet government have refrained
from announcing details of the ne
gotiations, but the United States was
understood on good authority to have
made an offer of settlement based on
extremely liberal terms. A settle
ment on those terms. it was said,
would make it necessary for the
Soviet to pay only a fraction of the
claims.
Soviet negotiators. however, have
been adamant in their demands for
financial facilities in this country,
and Hull, Moore and Troyanovsky
must surmount that difficulty before
achieving success in the new nego-
tiations.