The President                        
 
                           July 5, 1943                     
 
                                                            
 
 
He showed me his rough cable from Stalin and his latest reply. 
      I regret that he sent it without consultation with you. I told 
      him that I thought his recent interchange of cables with Stalin 
      had shown no profit. He referred to the subject several times 
      later and agreed that this type of interchange should not be 
      pursued and that perhaps he had made a mistake in answering Stalin's 
      first cable. He defended, however, the need for his answering 
      the last one because of the implications of bad faith in the 
                         last paragraph.                    
 
                                                            
 
 
I am puzzled by the Stalin cables. Churchill's only explanation 
      is that Stalin wants us to become involved in Western Europe 
      to avoid our entry in the Balkans. This may be true. On the other 
      hand your reaction that he is drafting cables for the satisfaction 
      of his military advisors is, I feel, a better guess. We must 
      always realize, too, that Stalin's expressions are crude. I have 
      heard him say things in a way which would be unforgivable between 
      Anglo-Saxons.