Vyacheslav Molotov informed Japan’s ambassador that the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan in August 1945.
Molotov delivered the notice in Moscow on August 8 to Naotake Satō, Japan’s ambassador to the Soviet Union. He stated that the Soviet government would regard itself as at war with Japan from August 9. The announcement was a major diplomatic shock because Japan had hoped that the formally neutral Soviet Union might help mediate a negotiated settlement.
The declaration followed Soviet commitments made to the United States and United Kingdom at the Yalta Conference. Soviet forces then launched a major invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria, beginning shortly after midnight on August 9.
Molotov was one of the Soviet Union’s most prominent diplomats and served as foreign minister during much of Joseph Stalin’s rule. He should not be confused with Andrei Gromyko, who became a leading Soviet diplomat in the postwar era but did not deliver this 1945 declaration.