Did the government and the party do right in declaring war upon Finland? This question has a special relation to the Red Army.
Could we have avoided war? I think not. We could not have avoided war. War was necessary because peace negotiations with Finland had borne no result, and the security of Leningrad had to be ensured unconditionally, for its security is the security of our Motherland. Not only because Leningrad hosts 30-35% of our country's defence industry, and therefore the destiny of our country depends on its integrity and safety, but also because Leningrad is the second capital of our country. To break through to Leningrad, to occupy it, and there to form, let us say, a burgeois, white-guard, government—means to supply a serious foundation for an internal civil war against the Soviet regime.
That is the defensive and political role of Leningrad as an industrial center and the second capital of our coiuntry. That is why the security of Leningrad is the security of our country. It is clear that, peace negotions having failed, war had to be declared in order by military power to organise, establish, and affirm the security of Leningrad and, consequently, of our country.