Throughout 1938, he, Vansittart, was greatly concerned about the progressive cooling of Anglo-Soviet relations. Its sad consequences were clearly demonstrated by Munich. That is why Vansittart began, from the end of last year, to impress on members of the British government, Halifax in particular, the urgent need to improve Anglo-Soviet relations. He specifically recommended sending a British minister to Moscow with this end in view. Vansittart hoped that his efforts would lead to a situation where the exchange of ministerial visits between London and Moscow would become as commonplace a phenomenon as, for example, the exchange of similar visits between London and Paris. But all this is just the music of the future. In the meantime, Vansittart thought it very profitable to arrange a trip to Moscow for one member of the government, albeit as a one-off. Alas, his idea initially met with a lukewarm response in the highest circles.

It dawned on Vansittart after our conversation last week that the question of the Anglo-Soviet trade agreement could be a good pretext for putting his long-cherished idea into effect. He suggested to Halifax that Hudson be sent to Moscow (‘specifically Hudson,’ Vansittart emphasized, ‘for I have long known him to be an intelligent, energetic man who shares my views on international issues’). To his considerable surprise, Halifax readily endorsed his idea on this occasion. The British government also approved of Hudson’s visit. Vansittart is very happy. Now we just have to ensure that Hudson’s visit proves successful!

Referring to my recent conversation with Leith-Ross, I expressed my hope that Hudson would not seek to trouble ‘old ghosts’ in Moscow. This would doom Hudson’s visit to failure. Vansittart promised to keep my comment in mind.