A large part of the Russian Black Sea fleet fell into the hands of the Germans when they captured Sebastopol, but two large ships and two destroyers escaped. A telegram to the Berliner Tageblatt, dated May 12, said that the majority of the captured vessels had been so neglected that only two battleships were in good condition. One dreadnought and four cruisers had previously been captured at Odessa. On June 6, the Moscow Government offered to surrender the Black Sea fleet to Germany on the following conditions: 1. The ships to be restored after the war is over. 2. Germany to refrain from using the vessels. 3. Invasion of Russia to stop. According to a memorandum sent on May 21 by Foreign Minister Tchitcherin to the Bolshevist Ambassador Joffe in Berlin, Russian merchantmen and even a hospital ship were attacked by the Germans in the Black Sea, and the menace of German attack constituted a serious obstacle to navigation in the Baltic and Arctic. On June 6, Germany delivered an ultimatum to the Soviet Government, demanding the return of the remainder of the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Novorossysk to Sebastopol, as a condition for the cessation of hostilities on the part of the Central Powers. The Commissary for Foreign Affairs expressed himself in favor of acceding to the demand, and Lenine ordered the surrender of the ships. The Soviet Government had no illusions as to the stability of the Brest-Litovsk peace, but in its opinion the time for a new clash with the Central Powers was not yet ripe. Consequently, in the of German aggression, it pursued a policy of preserving this "bad peace" by all manner of concessions and compromises. The tasks which the Soviet Government were facing were outlined by Nikolai Lenine in several speeches made before the Central Executive Committee of the Councils, in the middle of May. His words were to the effect that war was threatening the Soviet Republic from many quarters. Either of the belligerent groups of imperialistic powers might, in his opinion, at any moment attack Russia. The ambitions of Skoropadsky and of the new Caucasian Government, which was under the influence of German militarism, was regarded as another source of danger. "We shall do the little we can," said Lenine, "all that diplomacy can do to put off the moment of attack. * * * We shall not defend the secret agreements which we have published to the world; we shall not defend a 'Great Power,' for there is nothing of Russia left but Great Russia, and no national interests, because for us the interests of the world's socialism stand higher than national interests. We stand for the defense of the socialistic fatherland."