Dear President, Mr. Benes! Today I learned from Comrade Gottwald that the Czechoslovak government is experiencing embarrassment in connection with events in Subcarpathian Ukraine, believing that the Soviet government intends to resolve the question of Subcarpathian Ukraine unilaterally, contrary to the treaty between our countries.

I must tell you that if you have formed such a supposition, it is based on a misunderstanding.

The Soviet government did not and could not forbid the population of Subcarpathian Ukraine from expressing their national will. This is all the more understandable since you yourself told me in Moscow of your readiness to transfer Subcarpathian Ukraine to the Soviet Union, while, as you probably remember, I did not at that time give my consent to this.

But from the fact that the Soviet government did not forbid the Subcarpathian Ukrainians from expressing their will, it does not at all follow that the Soviet government intends, so it seems, to violate the treaty between our countries and to resolve the question of Subcarpathian Ukraine unilaterally. Such a supposition would be offensive to the Soviet government.

Since the question of Subcarpathian Ukraine has been raised by the population of Subcarpathian Ukraine itself, it will of course have to be resolved. But this question can be resolved only by agreement between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union either before the end of the war with Germany or after the end of the war, when both governments find it appropriate.

I beg you to believe that the Soviet government has no intention of causing any damage to the interests of the Czechoslovak Republic and its prestige. On the contrary, the Soviet government is fully resolved to render every assistance to the Czechoslovak Republic in the matter of its liberation and restoration.

With respect,
I. Stalin

Soviet-Czechoslovak Relations during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Documents and Materials. Moscow, 1960. P. 221-222.
AVP RF. F. 06. Op. 7. P. 51. D. 820. L. 1.