Which Soviet official delivered the 1945 declaration of war against Japan to Japan’s ambassador?

Vyacheslav Molotov delivered the 1945 declaration of war against Japan to Japan’s ambassador.

On 8 August 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed Japanese ambassador Naotake Satō in Moscow that the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan from 9 August. The announcement followed the Soviet commitment at Yalta to enter the war against Japan within three months of Germany’s defeat.

Soviet forces then launched the invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria just after midnight on 9 August. The offensive attacked from several directions and rapidly overwhelmed the Kwantung Army. The Soviet entry created a major new military and diplomatic crisis for Japan’s leaders, arriving between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Molotov was the foreign minister who delivered the diplomatic notice; Joseph Stalin was the Soviet leader who authorized the broader policy. The event is therefore different from the later surrender ceremony and from the Allied ultimatum issued at Potsdam.