711.61/938
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The Soviet Ambassador called at his request. He said that he had merely called to pay his respects for the first time since becoming Ambassador.
I thanked him and then proceeded to thank him strongly for his statement made to the President upon presentation of his credentials. He then spoke for two or three minutes along the line that there is no serious divergence of interest between the Soviet Union and the United States; that their main interests are common, and that there are no questions which can not be settled amicably and without serious difficulty. I echoed and reechoed this point of view. He concluded by saying that he felt the relations between our two countries would be better in the future than in the past, et cetera.
His remarks were encouraging compared to those of his predecessors.