BRITISH EMBASSY                       
 
                         WASHINGTON, D.C.                   
 
                          April 7, 1945                     
 
                            My dear Ed                      
 
                                                            
 
 
The Prime Minister and Anthony have received replies to personal 
      messages which they addressed to Marshal Stalin and M. Molotov 
      respectively regarding the failure of the Soviet authorities 
      to repatriate liberated British prisoners of war and to permit 
      visits of British contact officers and furnishing of supplies 
      to certain hospitals and other places under Soviet control where 
         British subjects are collected for repatriation.   
 
                                                            
 
 
The reply from Marshal Stalin states that there are no grounds 
      for anxiety about liberated British prisoners of war since they 
      are living in better condition than has been the case with Soviet 
      nationals in British camps where they are alleged to have suffered 
      persecution and, in some cases, blows. The Marshal adds that 
      all recaptured British prisoners of war are now on the way to 
      Odessa or on the homeward voyage. The reply from M. Molotov states 
      that he cannot agree that the Yalta agreement had got been satisfactorily 
      carried out by the Soviet authorities, nor could he agree to 
      exaggerated claims which did not follow from the agreement. He 
      concluded with the assurance that the liberated British prisoners 
      of war are enjoying good conditions and that the Soviet authorities 
            will continue to care for them in future.       
 
                                                            
 
 
I understand that the President has also received a reply 
      to a message which he sent to Marshal Stalin on the subject of 
      the treatment of liberated American prisoners of war in the hands 
                    of the Soviet authorities.              
 
                                                            
 
 
                          Anthony                           
 
                                                            
 
             The Honorable Howard R. Stettinius, Jr.        
 
                United States Department of State           
 
      Washington, D.C.