Editing Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (section)

===Late relations===
[[File:Europe before Operation Barbarossa, 1941 (in German).png|thumb|Situation in Europe by May to June 1941, on the eve of Operation Barbarossa]]
In an effort to demonstrate peaceful intentions toward Germany, on 13 April 1941, the Soviets signed a neutrality pact with Japan, an Axis power.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=63}} While Stalin had little faith in Japan's commitment to neutrality, he felt that the pact was important for its political symbolism to reinforce a public affection for Germany.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=66}} Stalin felt that there was a growing split in German circles about whether Germany should initiate a war with the Soviet Union.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=66}} Stalin did not know that Hitler had been secretly discussing an invasion of the Soviet Union since summer 1940{{Sfn|Ericson|1999|pp=129–30}} and that Hitler had ordered his military in late 1940 to prepare for war in the East, regardless of the parties' talks of a potential Soviet entry as a fourth [[Axis power]].<ref name="weeks74">{{cite book|last=Weeks|first=Albert L|title=Stalin's Other War: Soviet Grand Strategy, 1939–1941|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2003|isbn=0-7425-2192-3|pages=74–5}}.</ref>

On [[1 May]] [[1941]] [[Soviet Union|USSR]] held an annual [[International Workers' Day|International Workers Day]] parade on [[Red Square]] in [[Moscow]] with German diplomat [[Ernst August Köstring]] and Wehrmacht general [[Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general)|Hans Krebs]] invited as prominent guests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=История военных парадов на Красной площади, Фильм 2 |trans-title=History of military parades on Red Square, part 2 |url=https://tvzvezda.ru/schedule/films-online/201205021538-5equ.htm/201207091956-y60y.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512185957/https://tvzvezda.ru/schedule/films-online/201205021538-5equ.htm/201207091956-y60y.ht |archive-date=2021-05-12 |website=[[Zvezda (TV channel)]]}}</ref>