868.01/554
Memorandum by the Acting Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Alling) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: The Greek Embassy is pressing us for an answer on the question of whether we agree with the British view that the difficulties caused by the Russians in connection with the present Greek political crisis, can only be clarified by direct contact between Mr. Churchill and Mr. Stalin. The Greek Embassy would like an indication of our attitude as early this afternoon as possible.
It is unusual to say the least that the British view on this matter should be presented to the Department for comment by the Greek Ambassador. The British Embassy usually keeps the Department informed on such questions but has not done so in this instance. Moreover the current Greek crisis has occasioned a direct exchange between Mr. Churchill and the President within the past few days which resulted in a message from the President to King George. (The text of this message has not yet been communicated to the Department by the White House.44)
If you agree, we will inform the Greek Embassy that we are aware of an exchange of correspondence between the President and Mr. Churchill, initiated by the latter, regarding the Greek political crisis, and we assume that further developments might be handled at the same level.
- Not found in Department files. A search in the Roosevelt papers at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, N.Y., also failed to locate such a message.↩