-2-
 
meeting was that he and Mussolini had not personally met
 
since the meeting in Munich eighteen months ago, and that
 
in view of the developments of the  past six months a per-
 
sonal interview was required. Ciano added  somewhat  acidly
 
that he believed Rlbbentrop' s inability to make any pro-
 
gress when he had visited Rome last week and Hitler's
 
knowledge that he  (Ciano) was determined to do everything 
 
within his power to keep Italy from getting into the war,
 
was the more important reason for the request for the
 
meeting.
 
     Count Ciano said that Hitler seemed in far better
 
physical and mental condition than when he had seen him
 
last summer and last October. He said that Hitler did
 
practically all of the talking and that Mussolini did very
 
little.
 
     He said that he was  very  much impressed with the fact 
 
that Hitler was far less intransigent in his point of 
 
view with regard to the possibility of a negotiated peace 
 
than had been Ribbentrop when the latter had visited Rome,
 
although he emphasized that every time that Hitler adopted
 
a reasonable attitude with regard to any problem, Ribben-
 
trop would invariably interrupt and try to persuade Hitler 
 
to take a more rigid attitude.
 
     Count Ciano said that he believed the most im-
 
portant thing for me to learn was that there would be ab-
 
soltely no change in Italy's non-belligerent attitude 
 
as a result of the meeting. He said that Hitler had
 
hardly  mentioned Russia, and had made no effort to sup-
 
port the requests made by Ribbentrop last week that Italy 
 
enter into any closer relations or into any specific 
 
agreements with Russia. Count Ciano said that he wanted
 
                              me