Friday, 16 February

Today the Soviet newspaper, Pravda, published the replies of Stalin to the queries of reporters. The main content was as follows:

• If Britain and the United States do not accept the suggestions of the government of the People’s Republic of China, they would be defeated in Korea.
• The post-war demobilization of the Soviet Union could be divided into three stages. The first and second stages were in 1945, while the third stage was from May to September 1946. The retirement of those officials of senior age was offered in 1946 and 1947, and the programme was completed by early 1948. These are all well-known facts. So, what the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, had said about the Soviet Union is libellous. If Attlee knows a little bit about finance and economics, he should understand. Any country that increases its military hardware and at the same time undertakes magnificent construction projects (for example those on the water such as the electricity plants of the Volga, Dnieper and other rivers) and reduces prices as well as well as reinforcing post-war industry and so on, such projects would certainly lead to bankruptcy. Based on his personal experience, Attlee should know that as Britain and the United States increase their military hardware so they drive up prices, while the Soviet Union decreases its prices, which is enough to prove that the Soviet Union is curtailing its military hardware. As such, Stalin has given his opinion and during this time it has been enough to prove that the Soviet Union is unwilling to enlarge the war, which is the same thought that I have.

George Marshall has declared that the United States have decided to dispatch four more divisions to Europe. There would be six divisions in total together with the two stationed there already.