Yosef's words were like a thunderclap, chilling the air in the entire conference room by several degrees. For a moment, everyone was still processing the shock this news had brought them.
Since the overthrow of the Tsarist regime, the Soviet Union had never had a leader visit another country. So far, the Soviet Union had produced only two undisputed core leaders: Vladimir, and the current Yosef.
The early Soviet leadership had been a highly complex arrangement. Unlike the later Soviet Union's autocracy, it had leaned more toward "centralized" leadership.
Take Vladimir's era, for example. He himself had undoubtedly been the most central and prestigious leader, so his views and decisions carried decisive influence.
But leadership had relied more on personal prestige and achievements than on any particular office. The Soviet power structure had been relatively dispersed; Trotsky, Yosef, and others all possessed immense power and independent power bases.
This had also led to fierce clashes between Yosef and the other leaders after Vladimir's death. Only now had Yosef gathered power into his own hands through various political means, becoming the Soviet Union's indisputable foremost figure.
Whether Vladimir or Yosef, neither had ever left the country after becoming the Soviet Union's highest authority. During the Tsarist era, however, they had lived in exile or engaged in activities in Europe.
Considering the Soviet Union's youth—it had existed for less than twenty years—and the international community's resistance toward it, it was not particularly unusual for no head of state to have gone abroad on an official visit.
What truly shocked the Soviet leadership was that Yosef himself had made this decision.
Yosef was known for his suspicion and caution. He knew full well that he had many enemies, and leaving the power center and security apparatus he tightly controlled to travel abroad was