Roosevelt Papers: Telegram
President Roosevelt to Marshal Stalin1
operational priority
From the President to Marshal Stalin personal and secret
Thank you for your message received today.
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3. I am delighted with your willingness to go along with the third suggestion, and the time about the end of November is all right. I fully understand that military events might alter the situation for you or for Mr. Churchill or myself. Meanwhile, we can go ahead on that basis. Personally, my only hesitation is the place but only because it is a bit further away from Washington than I had counted on. My Congress will be in session at that time and, under our Constitution, I must act on legislation within ten days. In other words, I must receive documents and return them to the Congress within ten days and Teheran makes this rather a grave risk if the flying weather is bad. If the Azores route is not available, it means going by way of Brazil and across the South Atlantic Ocean. For these reasons I hope that you will consider some part of Egypt, which is also a neutral state and where every arrangement can be made for our convenience.
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- Sent to the United States Naval Attaché, Moscow, via Navy channels. The entire document is printed in Stalin’s Correspondence, vol. ii, p. 92.↩