In the context of the outbreak World War II, one of the goals of the negotiations between V. M. Molotov and A. Hitler in Berlin in November 1940 was to clarify the reasons for the presence of German troops in northern Finland. As evidenced by Soviet documents, as a result of this visit, V. M. Molotov came to the conclusion that «the meeting was just a showcase» and he was «confident that the inevitability of German aggression has grown incredibly, and in the not too distant future». In addition, it became clear that Finland would be the undoubted ally of the Third Reich. Thus, following the results of Molotov's visit to Berlin, Moscow began to pay more attention to the problems of military security of the USSR in the northwestern direction