740.0011 European War 1939/14687: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 4—3:44 p.m.]
1624. For the President, the Secretary and the Under Secretary. Ralph Ingersoll12 was received by Stalin last night on the understanding that their talk was not to constitute “an interview for publication.” In the course of their conversation Stalin made the following statements of interest.
- 1.
- The Germans now have considerable superiority over the Soviets in numbers of tanks and airplanes.
- 2.
- The Germans have obtained possession of two million tons of grain in the Ukraine.
- 3.
- That Italy be the objective of an offensive for purposes of diversion on the grounds that it is the weakest of the three Axis Powers and could be disposed of first. He indicated that if an Italian front was not found expedient a front might be created in Norway.
- 4.
- He referred to Germany’s huge capacity to produce armament in comparison with the more limited Soviet capacity.
- 5.
- He stated that in his opinion Hitler and the Nazis would not be defeated by blockade, starvation, or bombing, but only on the field of battle and that tanks and airplanes would be the ultimate deciding factor.
Ingersoll discussed with Stalin his desire to visit the Front and greater freedom for the American newspaper correspondents. Stalin [Page 647] remarked that he did not wish any American newspaper correspondents killed and did not encourage the thought of greater freedom of expression for the foreign correspondents.
- Editor of the New York newspaper P.M. ↩