The American Ambassador, Mr. Steinhardt, through Mr.
Vyshinski, presented to me on November 2, 1941, an aide-mémoire
containing the contents of your message, the exact text of which I have
not yet received.
First of all I would like to express my sincere thanks
for your appreciative remarks regarding the expeditious manner in which
the conference was handled. Your assurance that the decisions of the
conference will be carried out to the limit is deeply appreciated by
the Soviet Government.
Your decision, Mr. President, to grant to the Soviet
Union a loan in the amount of one billion dollars subject to no interest
charges and for the purpose of paying for armaments and raw materials
for the Soviet Union is accepted with sincere gratitude by the Soviet
Government as unusually substantial aid in its difficult and great struggle
against our common enemy, bloodthirsty Hitlerism.
I agree completely, on behalf of the Government of
the Soviet Union, with the conditions which you outlined for this loan
to the Soviet Union, namely, that payments for this loan to the Soviet
Union, namely that payments on the loan shall begin five years after
the end of the war and shall be completed during the following ten-year
period.
The Government of the U.S.S.R. stands ready to expedite
in every possible way the supplying of available raw materials and goods
required by the United States.
I am heartily in accord with your proposal, Mr. President,
that we establish direct personal contact whenever circumstances warrant.