After signing a neutrality pact with one another on 13 April 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan maintained a fairly scrupulous neutrality toward one another – even after both countries entered World War II on opposite sides later in 1941 – until 1945. For its part, the Soviet Union turned down requests by the United States to base American aircraft on Soviet territory for operations against Japan and ignored Allied requests for any other actions which might provoke Japan, its leader Josef Stalin stating only that Soviet entry into the war against Japan would not be possible until after the defeat of Germany. During a meeting with United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman in October 1944, Stalin finally offered to enter the war against Japan, but not until three months aft