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To wheedle Italy into accepting this or even attendance at the conference, it was important that Italy should not be accused directly, but Russia, fighting mad at the loss of her ships during the summer, suddenly upset the apple cart. Bluntly she sent a note to Rome, accusing Italy outright of the torpedoing of the Soviet freighters Timiriazev and Blagoev during the past week and demanding cash reparations. Just as bluntly Italy denied the torpedoing, refused payment, intimated she would sit at no conference table with Russia.
*The twelve: Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Egypt, Albania, Russia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, France.