741.13/12–2751
No. 325
President Truman to
Prime Minister Churchill
1
Thank you for ur msg of Dec 232 received through the Brit Emb giving me the list of topics which you have in mind. This list in gen fols our own ideas as to what might be profitably discussed between us.
We are particularly anxious to cover the Eur Def Community, our relationships with the Continent and the relationship of Ger with the West.
Under ur Far East heading I wld like to have a gen review of our respective policies with regard to China. Korea shld also be covered as well as the matter of Japan’s relationship to nationalist China. I am looking forward with interest to getting your views about the critical situation in South East Asia.
We assume that under Middle East you will desire to talk about such specific problems as Egypt and Iran and the coordination of our policies in the ME area as a whole.
In addition to ur suggestion that we discuss steel, I think we can extend this to a few other strategic materials.
I suggest that we hold regular mtgs with out advisers on Sat morning, the 5th, in the morning and afternoon of Mon, the 7th, and Tues morning, the 8th.
In view of the uncertainty of the arrival time of the Queen Mary on Fri, Jan 4, I think it may be wiser to have our luncheon on Sat, the 5th, instead of Fri as we had originally planned.
In addition, I hope that you will be able to dine with me on the Williamsburg Sat evening. I am looking forward with particular pleasure to that occasion as an opportunity for a good informal talk.