Evening star., 1943-10-10
Allied 1nterdependence Holds
Hope. of Agreement at Moscow
By Constantine Br0,yn.

Secretary of State Hull, Foreign Sec
retary Eden of Britain and Foreign Com
misar Molotov of Russia soon will begin
their political conversations in Moscow.
1t will be diplomatic game with each
man playing his cards close to the chest
AS in most games the participants have
the friendliest feelings toward one an
other and each hopes to win without
actually taking his co-player's shirts.
The game will be intense because the
stakes are high, hence the necessary
cautiousness of the participants.
Neither Mr.. Hull nor his colleagues is
gambling. 1t won't be a game such as
poker or blackjack but something like
bridge. 1t will require, besides luck and
plenty Of aces and kings, good deal of
skill and knowledge of how to use the
high cards
To the outsider it looks as If Premier
Stain has the strongest hand. But Mr..
Hull, in fact, has an equally strong,
although less spectacular, set of cards,
which If played defensively and carefully
might give him the top score.
Russia Most Successful.
Russia is fighting the Germans most
successfully. The Red armies are driving
the Nazis from their strong positions and
1t appears that most of Russian territory
which since 1941 has been under Nazi
control might be freed again by the end
Of the year.
The Germans threw some 224 divisions
into the present phase of the fighting on
the eastern front. Against them the
Russians placed no fewer than 300 divi-
sions.
The Nazis are claimed to have lost
some IS divisions since the middle Of
July. Apparently aware of the gigantic
and threatened by the forces under the
command of Gen. Eisenhower, the Ger
mans withdrew quickly from their ad-
vanced positions to a line on the Dneiper
River, which II they decide to hold can
be defended with about half of their
original force-that is to say, 100 di-
visions.
The rest of the force can be used to
strengthen the units which are ear
marked to meet any Allied invasion OF
the Reich, either through Italy, the Bal
kans or Western Europe
Since the Nazis have been compelled
to give up the idea of pulverizing the
Red Armies and have no hope of keep
ing the Ukraine, because they admit
now that Russia, cannot be defeated, the
question has, arisen as to whether or not
1t would be to their advantage to offer
an acceptable peace to the Soviet.
Cause Much Speculation.
The rumors of a peace between Russia
and Germany have caused intense spec.
ulation in Washington and London Ir
this particular matter the saying thai
where there is smoke there is fire il
correct.
There have been indications of Naz
approaches to the Kremlin since las
January when the japanese Ambassador
at Moscow first broached the question
to Molotov. Several other approache
have been made in the last few months
but it cannot be said here that Stalil
has done more than listen to the offers
There are no reliable reports to shov
that the Russian leader has given tn,
Nazis any definite and direct encourage
ment. The formation of a Committe,
of Free Germany composed of importan
military leaders who are now prisoner
of war. and the Russian Premier's va
rious utterances regarding Russia's view
of the war, have given rise to increased
speculation that Stain might be ready