 Stalin and Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov greeted the party members, much to the Nazis surprise.It was well known that Stalin avoided meeting foreign visitors and so his presence at the meeting showed how seriously the Soviets were taking the negotiations.In late July and early August 1939, Soviet and German officials agreed on most of the details of a planned economic agreement and specifically addressed a potential political agreement, which the Soviets stated could only come after an economic agreement.