740.0011 European War 1939/6554
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
The Turkish Ambassador came in to see me, at my request. I said that we had been thinking over the suggestions which he had made on the occasion of his last conversation with me. The heart of them lay in the improvement of relations between the United States and Russia.
I said that I thought we should be glad to have any specific suggestions which he might care to make, for our consideration.
[Page 962]He said he would think it over. Further, his view was that matters were now so serious that little short of a definite agreement on our part to assist, by measures short of war, would be of any particular use. He felt that every day that went by now increased the danger; he held the personal view that something might happen within a week’s time.
At the same time, he said, he was confident of ultimate victory, though there might be a very great deal of pain and suffering before that occurred.