In the face of so astonishing a charge it seemed to me that silence was better than a contest in abuse, and on March 24 I minuted to Mr. Eden:
Prime Minister to Foreign Secretary 24 Mar 45
For the moment these negotiations have dropped. They may be reopened in a far more vital area than Italy. In this military and political questions will be intertwined. The Russians may have a legitimate fear of our doing a deal in the West to hold them well back in the East. On the whole it will be well to send no reply [to Molotov] till we have checked up with Washington to whom you should repeat the Russian message.
Winston S. Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy