The summit offers that ran into a war deadline

Japan requested American mediation in China and Konoe offered to travel anywhere necessary for a summit, while Roosevelt indicated that a meeting might be possible and suggested Alaska. At the same time, the foreign ministry conditioned withdrawal on a prior Sino-Japanese agreement and senior leaders committed to war if diplomacy failed by a mid-October deadline. Hirohito pressed for negotiation, asked why military preparations had been concealed from him, and reminded the chiefs that their promised three-month China campaign had already failed. He eventually approved the cabinet decision only after receiving assurances that diplomacy remained primary. The overlapping summit effort and war timetable reveal how negotiations could continue sincerely while operational momentum made their failure increasingly likely.