In February 1945 , the three leaders met at the Yalta Conference . Roosevelt and Churchill conceded to Stalin 's demand that Germany pay the Soviet Union 20 billion dollars in reparations , and that his country be permitted to annex Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands in exchange for entering the war against Japan . An agreement was also made that a post-war Polish government should be a coalition consisting of both communist and conservative elements . Privately , Stalin sought to ensure that Poland would come fully under Soviet influence . The Red Army withheld assistance to Polish resistance fighters battling the Germans in the Warsaw Uprising , with Stalin believing that any victorious Polish militants could interfere with his aspirations to dominate Poland through a future Marxist government . Although concealing his desires from the other Allied leaders , Stalin placed great emphasis on capturing Berlin first , believing that this would enable him to bring more of Europe under long-term Soviet control . Churchill was concerned that this was the case , and unsuccessfully tried to convince the US that the Western Allies should pursue the same goal
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
Joseph Stalin