119.25/1324½
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Edward Page, Jr., of the Division of European Affairs
| Participants: | Mr. A. Gromyko, Counselor of the Soviet Embassy, and |
| The President. | |
| General Watson33 and Mr. Page, of the European Division, were present. |
The President greeted Mr. Gromyko cordially and commented briefly on the recent encouraging news from the Russian front. He asked Mr. Gromyko several questions on weather conditions in Southern Russia and the Crimea.
Mr. Gromyko stated that he had been instructed by his Government to hand to the President the exact text, in the Russian language, of Mr. Stalin’s answer to the President’s recent message to Mr. Stalin. He explained that an English translation of this text had been transmitted to Mr. Steinhardt on November 6. The President thanked Mr. Gromyko for the text and gave it to Mr. Page for translation.
Mr. Gromyko expressed the deep appreciation of the Soviet Government of the decision of the President to grant to the Soviet Union a loan of one billion dollars. The President commented briefly on the transportation difficulties which would apparently be encountered in carrying American supplies to the Soviet Union.
In closing the President stated that a way must be found by which the exact texts of confidential and personal messages might be exchanged between Mr. Stalin and himself without such messages being known to the Germans and referred to the present necessity of making paraphrases of such messages in order to guard the secrecy of diplomatic notes [codes?].
- Maj. Gen. Edwin M. Watson, Military Aide to the President.↩