Editorial Note
On February 17, the Soviet newspapers Pravda and Izvestiya published the text of answers by Marshal Stalin to five questions addressed to him by a correspondent of Pravda. In one answer, Stalin strongly denied and denounced a recent statement by British Prime Minister Attlee to the House of Commons regarding the Soviet Union’s failure to demobilize its armed forces after World War II. Three of the answers concerned the war in Korea. Stalin maintained that the United States and Britain would be defeated if they did not accept Chinese Communist terms for a settlement in the Far East. Stalin concluded by denying that a world war was [Page 1533] inevitable. For text of the Stalin “interview”, sometimes given the date of February 16, see Current Digest of the Soviet Press, volume III, Number 5, pages 3–4 or Folliot, Documents on International Affairs, 1951, pages 290–294.
On February 17, Special Assistant for Press Relations McDermott issued a statement to the press commenting briefly on the Stalin “interview”. McDermott’s comment concluded as follows:
“The fact that Marshal Stalin says that war is not inevitable is noted with interest all over the world. This shows the universal belief that the danger comes from the Kremlin’s aggressive moves in Europe and Asia and that Prime Minister Stalin and his associates have the power to remove the threat of war—if they will.” (Department of State Bulletin, March 5, 1951, pages 367–368)
On February 18 the Department of State issued to the press a statement reviewing the special efforts being made by the Voice of America and the Department of State Wireless Bulletin to broadcast negative reactions around the world to Stalin’s “interview”. For text of the statement, see ibid., page 367.
For the comments by the Embassy in the Soviet Union on Stalin’s “interview”, see telegram 1528 from Moscow, infra.