Molotov-Ribbentrop pact: elaborate reception for the Germans in Moscow - archive, 1939
Moscow, August 23
Herr von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, lost no time in getting down to business on his first day in Moscow. Accompanied by the German Ambassador here, Count von Schilenburg, and an interpreter the Foreign Minister, long extravagantly caricatured in the Russian press, went into conference with Mr. Molotoff, the Russian Premier, less than three hours after his arrival. To-night there was another meeting.
The Germans arrive
The arrival of the Germans was more dramatic than had been that of the Anglo-French missions, and the Russians gave them a more elaborate reception. Swooping down at one o’clock to the minute to the central airport from - Königsberg. Herr von Ribbentrop stepped out of his four-motored Fokker-Wulf-Kondor plane, with a huge swastika painted on the rudder.
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The sight that met him was six swastika flags displayed on the grounds and buildings, although they were carefully hidden from the street. These flags had to be made at short notice last night when none could be found in Moscow. The Union Jack and the Tricolour were absent when the Anglo-French missions arrived. A second plane of the same type carried the luggage and those members of the German delegation of 32 who were unable to find places in Her von Ribbentrop’s plane.
An official welcome was given by the Vice-Commissar for Foreign Affairs, the Vice-Chairman of the Moscow Soviet, and the commander of the Moscow Garrison.
The Ambassador and the entire staff of the German Embassy welcomed Herr von Ribbentrop with the Nazi salute and a Heil Hitler! greeting, whilst the Russians watched respectfully. The Italian Ambassador, Signor Rosso, who, like the German diplomatists and the Foreign Office officials, wore a morning coat and top-hat, was the only other diplomatist present, and he was accompanied by the Italian military attache.
Herr von Ribbentrop entered a luxurious foreign limousine with bullet-proof glass, one of several in which Mr Molotoff usually rides. To-day it was flaunting the swastika flag at the front. The Germans drove to the old Austrian Legation through streets which had been cleared so that their progress should be unimpeded and which were patrolled at intervals of every hundred feet by police.
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The staff talks
The British and French Embassies and the military missions are awaiting instructions that will reveal the reactions of London and Paris to Mr Molotoff’s replies yesterday to questions put by the British and French ambassadors asking the terms of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact.
As for the attitude of London and Paris to the continuance of the military talks, it is reported that Paris is more anxious to discover a basis on which the talks can be resumed in spite of the latest Soviet move. The British inquiry, it is said, was couched in sharper tones than the French.
The Soviet attitude continues to be that there is nothing incompatible with simultaneous discussions, and surprise is expressed when informed of the consensus of foreign opinion that Russia’s action has made war harder to avoid. A move to promote peace is still the Soviet description of the Soviet-German agreement.
Germany is virtually not mentioned in the Soviet press to-day and the negotiations and Herr von Ribbentrop’s arrival are entirely ignored.