I began by telling Trotski that a breach of the regulations and a resumption of hostilities were imminent, and wished to know if this could not be avoided before the fatal step were definitely taken.

I therefore begged Herr Trotski to inform me openly and without reserve what conditions he would accept.

Trotski then declared very frankly and clearly that he was not so simple as we appeared to think, that he knew well enough force was the strongest of all arguments, and that the Central Powers were quite capable of taking away the Russian provinces.

He had several times tried to bridge a way for Kuehlmann during the conference, telling him it was not a question of the right of self-determination of the peoples in the occupied districts, but of sheer brutal annexation, and that he must give way to force.

He would never relinquish his principles, and would never give his consent to this interpretation of the right of self-determination.