The disarmament conference in Moscow from December 1922 and Romania

Abstract

In the conditions of the international isolation of the Russian Government, at the initiative of the Soviet diplomacy in December 1922, a „disarmament conference” was held in Moscow, in which the states bordering Russia participated. Although it was invited, Romania did not respond to the invitation, because the Soviets refused to recognize the border on the Dniester. The tribune of the Moscow conference was used by Russian diplomacy for propaganda purposes. At the conference, the Romanian Government aimed to explore, through its ally Poland, the possibility of normalizing relations with the Russian Government, on the condition of recognizing its eastern border and the intention to give up the treasure seized in Moscow. During an exchange of views with Poland’s representative at the conference, Prince Radziwill, Deputy Commissar for Foreign Affairs M. M. Litvinov warned that Russia would demand a plebiscite in Bessarabia. A century later, a question remains, however, whether or not the Moscow conference was an occasion for a beginning of normalization of Russian-Romanian relations.