740.0011 European War 1939/17928: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 29—8:50 a.m.]
6251. Following is text of statement issued by Foreign Office early this morning and simultaneously released in Moscow.
“In the second half of December 1941 there took place in Moscow between the President of the Council of People’s Commissars, I. V. Stalin, and the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, V. M. Molotov, on the one hand, and the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Anthony Eden, on the other, an exhaustive exchange of views on questions relating to the conduct of the war and to postwar organization of peace and security in Europe. The Soviet Ambassador in Great Britain, I. M. Maisky, and His Majesty’s Ambassador in the U. S. S. R., Sir S. Cripps, were present at these conversations. Further, some of the meetings were attended by the British Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir A. Cadogan, and by the Vice-Chief of the British Imperial General Staff, Lieutenant-General Nye.
The conversations which took place in a friendly atmosphere showed identity of views of both parties on all questions relating to the conduct of the war and especially with regard to the necessity for the utter defeat of Hitlerite Germany and the adoption thereafter of measures to render completely impossible any repetition of German aggression in future. Exchange of views on questions relating to post-war organization of peace and security provided much important and useful material which will facilitate a future elaboration of concrete proposals on this subject.
Both parties are convinced that the Moscow conversations constitute a new important forward step towards closer collaboration between the U. S. S. R. and Great Britain.”