V. I. Lenin

Direct-Line Conversation With L. D. Trotsky

Chairman Of The Soviet Peace Delegation
At Brest-Litovsk

January 3 (16), 1918


Written: 3 January, 1918
First Published: 1929 in the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia No. 5. Publshished according to the telegraph tape.
Source: Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 26, 1972, pp. 427
Translated: Yuri Sdobnikov and George Hanna, Edited by George Hanna
Transcription & HTML Markup: Charles Farrell and David Walters
Online Version: Lenin Internet Archive November, 2000


 

1

Lenin here. I have just received your special letter. Stalin is away and I have not yet been able to show it to him. I think your plan is worth discussing. Can its final implementation be somewhat deferred, and the final decision taken after a special Central Executive Committee meeting over here? I shall show the letter to Stalin as soon as he returns.

Lenin.

2

I should like to consult Stalin before replying to your question. A delegation of the Kharkov Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, which has assured me that the Kiev Rada is on its last legs, is leaving today to join you.

Lenin.

3

Stalin has just arrived, I shall discuss it with him, and will shortly let you know our joint reply.

Lenin.

4

Please inform Trotsky. Request arrange adjournment and return to Petrograd.

Lenin. Stalin.