The People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics, Mr. V. M. Molotov, following the invitation
of the President of the United States of America, arrived in Washington
on May 29 and was for some time the President's guest. This visit to
Washington afforded an opportunity for a friendly exchange of views
between the President and his advisers on the one hand and Mr. Molotov
and his party on the other. Among those who participated in the conversations
were: The Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Maxim Litvinov;
Mr. Harry Hopkins; the Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall; and
the commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, Admiral Ernest J.
King. Mr. Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, joined in subsequent conversations
on non-military matters.
In the course of the conversations full understanding
was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a second front
in Europe in 1942. In addition, the measures for increasing and speeding
up the supplies of planes, tanks, and other kinds of war materials from
the United States to the Soviet Union were discussed. Also discussed
were the fundamental problems of cooperation of the Soviet Union and
the United States in safeguarding peace and security to the freedom-loving
peoples after the war. Both sides state with satisfaction the unity
of their views on all these questions.
At the conclusion of the visit the President asked
Mr. Molotov to inform Mr. Stalin on his behalf that he feels these conversations
have been most useful in establishing a basis for fruitful and closer
relations between the two governments in the pursuit of the common objectives
of the United Nations.