Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume I

Leahy Papers: Telegram

No. 47
Prime Minister Churchill to President Truman ¹

top secret

London, 1 June 1945.

Prime Minister to President Truman. Personal and top secret. Number 63.

1. I will gladly come to Berlin with a British delegation but I consider that July 15, repeat July the month after June, is much too late for the urgent questions that demand attention between us, and that we shall do an injury to world hopes and unity if we allow personal or national requirements to stand in the way of an earlier meeting. Although I am in the midst of a hotly-contested election, I would not consider my tasks here as comparable to a meeting between the three of us. I have proposed June 15, repeat June the month before July, but if that is not possible why not July 1, 2, or 3?

2. I have sent a copy of this message to Premier Stalin.²

1. Sent by the United States Military Attaché, London, via Army channels.
2. See Stalin’s Correspondence, vol. i, p. 362.