Office of the Historian

The Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union (Stalin) to President Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister (Churchill)65

1. I have received Your message concerning the negotiations with the Italians and the new terms of armistice with Italy. Thank you for the information.

Mr. Eden told Mr. Sobolev that Moscow was fully informed about the negotiations with Italy. I have, however, to say, that Mr. Eden’s statement does not correspond with reality, as I have received your message in which long passages are omitted and which has no concluding paragraphs. In view of this, it is necessary to state that the Soviet Government is not informed about the negotiations of the British and the Americans with the Italians. Mr. Kerr gives assurance that within a short time he will receive the complete text of your message; although the three days have passed, and Ambassador Kerr has not yet given me the complete text of the message. I cannot understand how such delay could have occurred during the transmission of the information on such important matter.

2. I believe that the time is ripe to organize the military-political Commission of the representatives of the three countries: The United States, Great Britain and the USSR with the purpose of considering the questions concerning the negotiations with the different Governments dissociating themselves from Germany.65a Until now the matter stood as follows: The United States and Great Britain made agreements but the Soviet Union received information about the results [Page 354] of the agreements between the two countries just as a passive third observer. I have to tell you that it is impossible to tolerate such situation any longer. I propose to establish this Commission and to assign Sicily at the beginning as the place of residence of the Commission.

3. I am waiting for the complete text of your message concerning the negotiations with Italy.

August 22, 1943.
  1. Copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N.Y. Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt were in attendance at Quebec Conference August 17–24, 1943. Documentation on the Conference will be published in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations. ↩
  2. For correspondence relating to the Political-Military Commission, see vol. i, pp. 782 ff.↩