FOREIGN RELATIONS: Russian Dish

Last August Andrei A. Gromyko, 35, acting head of the Soviet Embassy, was named Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., succeeding Maxim Litvinoff (TIME, Aug. 30). Last week Andrei Gromyko, a modest, bookish comrade, finally got around to the formality of presenting his credentials to Franklin Roosevelt. For this occasion, Ambassador Gromyko, an able diplomatic chef, dished up some minute cuts of political meat, skillfully smothered in diplomatic parsley.

The Parsley. Said the new Soviet Ambassador: The people of the Soviet Union feel “friendship and deep respect” for the U.S. people, are grateful for “receiving from the friendly American people not only moral, but substantial material sup port. . . .” The U.S.-British campaigns in North Africa and Sicily were “remarkable successes.”

The Meat. Most substantial chunk in the speech for U.S. citizens to chew on was Ambassador Gromyko’s “belief” that the Soviet Union expects to cooperate with the U.S. after the war : “The present joint struggle against our common foe—Hitlerite Germany and her allies in Europe—will bring about closer collaboration of our countries in the postwar period, in the interests of general peace.” Discreetly tucked away behind the garnishing was a small tough bite. The Soviet still knows when the war really started and who stopped Hitler: “During the entire two years of this stubborn struggle . . . the heaviest burden of effort and sacrifices has fallen upon the Soviet Union.”