OCR
REPORT FROM THE USSR. Since the middle of March a great number of important conferences have taken place in Moscow. At these Conferences not only Members of the Politburo, but also 411 the high military leaders and top diplomats took place : in fact, the activity, though hidden, was just as intensive as at all the crucial moments in Soviet history, They were closely reminiscent to those meetings soon after the Munich agreement, when the very idea of the non=agression pact with Hitler was discussed. A very rare thihg took place : people like Zhukov, Koniev, Malinovsky sat in at very ipportant meetings with the top officials of the Foreign Office. From the Politburo Molotov, Melenkov and - important to note - Sussloff where permanently pre= sent, So was Beria and Woroshiloff. Vishinsky was hot always there, but was called in, especially at the meetings in early Aprile In fact the activity was so feverish, that even people outside of the en=chanted circle noticed that something big was on foot, The belief expressed by certain by certain diplomats in their dispatches, that the discissions were dealing with the succ cession of Stalin, are not accurate. It is conceivable, that in private talks the question was raised, since it is on everyone's mind anyhow. But the main reason of the important meetings was entirely different : it was in fact a discussion of re-appraisal of the whole political situation and of study as to the orientation of Soviet Foreign Policy in the future. While it is as yet impossible to know in detail ali the decisions - it. is even open to question, whether we shall ever be able to get them all - we have from the very top sources good indications as to what was discussed and what the great lines of the decisions weres It should be pointed out here, that the source of our Moschw observer is very highranking and that he knows at least The fundamental idea of the fiscussion was the question of the war with the United States, While as far as we know no date was discússed, the consent of opinion was that it was not farther off than five years, possibly less. The question for the Soviets therefore is one of both equipment and policies, In the present stage and in the scope of the present discussions the questions of policies werethe center of interest. The prile idea on which consent was reached was that the paramoúnt fron would be Asia - that means the question of Red China (>.