Page "Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union" Paragraph 17

At the same time, British, French and Soviet negotiators scheduled three-party talks on military matters to occur in Moscow in August 1939, aiming to define what the agreement would specify should be the reaction of the three powers to a German attack.

The tripartite military talks, started in mid-August, hit a sticking point regarding passage of Soviet troops through Poland if Germans attacked, and the parties waited as British and French officials overseas pressured Polish officials to agree to such terms.

Polish officials refused to allow Soviet troops on to Polish territory if Germany attacked ; as Polish foreign minister Józef Beck pointed out, they feared that once the Red Army entered their territories, it might never leave.

While Britain and France refused to allow Soviet Union to impinge on the sovereignty of its neighbors, Germany possessed no such reservations.