Franklin D. Roosevelt, called for Finland to disassociate itself from Nazi Germany. On 9 June 1944, the Red Army launched a major strategic offensive against Finland, attaining vast numerical superiority and surprising the Finnish army. This attack pushed the Finnish forces approximately to the same positions as they were holding at the end of the Winter War. Eventually, the Soviet offensive was fought to a standstill in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, while still tens or hundreds of kilometres in front of the main Finnish line of fortifications, the Salpa Line. However, the war had exhausted Finnish resources and it was believed that the country would not be able to hold against another major attack. The worsening situation in 1944 had led to Finnish president Risto Ryti giving Germany his personal guarantee that Finland would not negotiate peace with the Soviet Union for as long as he was the president. In exchange, Germany delivered weapons to the Finns. After the Soviet offensive was halted, however, Ryti resigned. Due to the war, elections could not be held, and therefore the Parliament selected the Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, the Finnish commander-in-chief, as president and charged him with negotiating a peace. The Finnish front had become a sideshow for the Soviet leadership, as they were in a race to reach Berlin before the Western Allies. This, and the heavy casualties inflicted on the Red Army by the Finns, led to the transfer of most troops from the Finnish front. On 4 September 1944 a ceasefire was agreed, and the Moscow armistice between the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on one side and Finland on the other was signed on 19 September. Moscow armistice The Moscow armistice was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 19 September 1944 ending the Continuation War, though the final peace treaty was not to be signed until 1947 in Paris. The conditions for peace were similar to those previously agreed in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty, with Finland being forced to cede parts of Finnish Karelia, a part of Salla and islands in the Gulf of Finland. The new armistice also handed the whole of Petsamo over to the Soviet Union. Finland also agreed to legalize communist parties and ban fascist organizations. Finally, the armistice also demanded that Finland must expel German troops from its territory, which was the cause of the Lapland War. Lapland