Stoneman: Russians welcome at parley
By William H. Stoneman
London, England –
Last night’s Moscow radio announcement that the Soviet government had not been invited to be represented at the Québec Conference does not mean that the Soviet government was in any way cold-shouldered by Washington or London, or that Soviet representatives would not have been welcomed if the Russians had evinced any desire to participate.
It had been hoped earlier in the summer to have leaders of the United States, England and Russia meet personally and it was only because Joseph V. Stalin insisted upon his inability to leave Russia for such a meeting that it did not occur.
In the meantime, so many questions for discussion have developed between the two great Western powers that it is probably desirable to discuss and settle them before moving on to the higher plane of a three-power pow-wow.
The most obvious feature of the relationship between Russia, the United States and Britain is that the latter two cannot possibly hope to reach full agreement with Russia unless they understand one another completely and are able to present their position on various matters to Stalin clearly and convincingly.
It would be futile, for example, to try to talk grand strategy to Stalin unless American and British leaders have agreed between themselves on their time-schedule for operations in Europe and the degree of attention and power to be devoted during the next six months to the Oriental theater.
In the absence of a Russian representative at the Québec talks, the Russians can content themselves with the knowledge that their own position is being given paramount consideration at every turn of the discussions.