After a six-day train journey, the East China government delegation arrived in Portsmouth on December 28, a journey that took 23 days.

By this time, the Japanese and Russian negotiating delegations had already arrived in the United States. The Japanese negotiating delegation was the first to arrive in the United States, and they departed from Japan on 3 December, but they did not take a Japanese passenger ship, because now that the East China Government controls the right to control the sea, there is no guarantee of safety for any Japanese steamer to go to sea, so the Japanese negotiating delegation rushed to the United States on the American passenger liner Minnesota. On December 19, it arrived in Port Townsend, Seattle, USA.

After going ashore, the members of the Japanese negotiating delegation were divided into two routes, one was led by Yamaza Enjiro, director of the political affairs bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and arrived in Portsmouth on 22 December, while Japanese negotiator Kotaro Komura, acting minister to Mexico, Ai Sato, secretary to the foreign minister, Kumataro Honda, counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Koichiro Tachibana, military attache of the army at the Chinese embassy in the United States, arrived in New York on 23 December, and together with Japanese ambassador to the United States, Kentaro Kaneko, they visited US President Roosevelt.

Japan pinned great hopes on Roosevelt in this negotiation, because before the war between Japan and Russia, the United States supported Japan, and most of Japan's war funds were raised in the American market, and Roosevelt played a significant role in this. Japan also hoped that Roosevelt would exert full pressure on the East China government to force the East China government to give up its demand for war reparations to Japan; before leaving Japan, Britain officially indicated to Japan that it would support Japan's demand for not paying war reparations.

Roosevelt said that he would try his best to help Japan achieve the goal of not paying war reparations in this negotiation, but Roosevelt also pointed out that the East China government was the victor of the war after all, so if Japan did not want to pay war reparations, it should make necessary concessions to the East China government in other aspects, and Roosevelt suggested that Japan could consider ceding some of its interests on the Korean Peninsula or using Taiwan as a bargaining chip in exchange.

Komura Shotaro did not answer Roosevelt directly, saying that Japan could exchange those interests, but only said that Japan launched the war against Russia in order to protect the Far East from being occupied by Russia and to protect the interests of various countries in the Far East, and that Japan had paid great sacrifices and money for this war. The East China government just picked up a bargain, taking advantage of the fact that Japan and Russia were defeated and wounded, sent troops to clean up the mess, and stole the victory that originally belonged to Japan, and the East China government has already reaped huge benefits in this war, and if they are allowed to gain more and greater benefits, they will surely become the hegemon of the Far East and will certainly threaten the interests of the United States in the Far East.

Roosevelt did not comment on Japan's claim that the East China government was also a threat to the United States, but said that when he met with the East China government delegation, he would fully understand their attitude and would strongly persuade them to give up reparations in exchange for peace.

After the meeting with Roosevelt, Komura Shoutaro also gave an interview to an American reporter, saying that Japan looks forward to peace, but will not succumb to external pressure, will never accept unreasonable demands, and now that Japan's finances are sound, its industry continues to develop, and it will soon recover from the trauma of war. At the same time, he also praised the United States as a country with a simple life and noble thinking, close and harmonious relations between the United States and Japan, and friendly development. After that, Komura Shoutaro and others lived in New York, waiting for the arrival of the East China government and the Russian negotiating delegation.

The Russian negotiating delegation was represented by Interior Minister Witte, and its main members included Mardans, adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hippov, director of the Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, Major General Ermolov, military attache of the British Army, and Colonel Samoilov, former military attache of the Japanese Army. This is because the Russian negotiating delegation did not depart directly from Russia to the United States, but first went to Paris, France, where it carried out a series of diplomatic activities, and then sailed to the United States in Cherbourg, France.

On the one hand, Russia wants to negotiate with its ally France on the content of the negotiations and hopes that France will come out to exert pressure on the East China government; on the other hand, it is also to provide relief to France, because now Russia's economy is on the verge of collapse, and if France does not provide financial assistance to Russia, Russia will go bankrupt.

Werther was received by French Prime Minister Louvais in Paris, but Louville told Witte that France would do its duty as an ally to help Russia, but also hoped that Russia would fulfill its obligations as an ally, and that the alliance between France and Russia was for European affairs, and that France would not be bound by the alliance if Russia threw its force into the Far East. Therefore, it is hoped that Russia will take the opportunity of this negotiation to stop its activities in the Far East and return to Europe. In addition, France agreed to provide Russia with a loan of 1 billion francs to temporarily alleviate Russia's economic crisis, but demanded that the Russian government must invest the money in stabilizing finance, economy, and people's livelihood rather than the military, and demanded that someone be sent to supervise the use of funds.

One billion francs is equivalent to about 45 million pounds, which is only a drop in the bucket of the economic crisis in Russia, and it is clear that France is prepared to decide whether to increase the loan to Russia depending on the outcome of the negotiations, and if the results of the negotiations do not satisfy France, there will be no next loan. But the French had many restrictions on the use of loans, and they were full of contempt for Russia as if it were a weak defeated country, which also made Witte unhappy. It's just that now Russia has no choice, and with this loan it can at least ease the crisis in Russia for a while, and without this loan, even Witte does not dare to guarantee how long Russia will last, and maybe tomorrow Russia will be completely bankrupt.

In Paris, Witte also gave an interview to reporters, saying that Russia will not fully accept the other side's demands in order to achieve peace, and that Russia is still a great power, and military setbacks are only temporary. Moreover, there is still a confrontation between the main war faction and the peace faction in Russia, and although it is true that Russia has some financial difficulties, these are minor problems in the face of national reputation. Therefore, if the conditions for peace are right, of course Russia will accept peace, but the Russian people are also ready to fight hard for several more years!

On the one hand, due to the pressure of the allies, and on the other hand, he was also worried about the difficulties of this negotiation, because although France supported Russia not to pay war reparations, it hoped that Russia would give up part of the Far East territory in exchange for a peace agreement with the East China government, and as for returning to Vladivostok, France once again warned Russia not to mention it. To put it simply, France only supports Russia without losing money, regardless of land, and exchanging land for peace. But both territory and reparations are untouchable bottom-line issues for Russia.

On the steamer bound for the United States, Witte thought after much deliberation that the negotiations were convened under the mediation of President Roosevelt, so President Roosevelt was also very concerned, and if President Roosevelt could exert pressure on the East China government, it would be helpful for the negotiations with Russia. However, Roosevelt was generally regarded as pro-Japanese, not Russian-friendly, and even did not have a good impression of Russia. However, the United States is a country with free public opinion, and the president must also take into account the influence of public opinion, so he must win the support of American public opinion, so as to influence Roosevelt's attitude and support Russia. Witt developed several strategies:

1. The Americans look down on the weak, so Russia cannot show a peace-seeking attitude on any occasion. It is necessary to direct the United States and public opinion to negotiate for the sake of world peace;

Second, the Americans have a sense of great power, so Russia wants to show the demeanor of a great power, and it wants to show that the disadvantage of war is only because Russia does not attach importance to it, and victory or defeat does not actually have much impact on Russia;

Third, the influence of American newspapers is huge, so it is necessary to enthusiastically face reporters and win the favor of reporters;

Fourth, the United States advocates democracy and equality, so it must not be arrogant and rude during its stay in the United States, but must show amiability.

In contrast to the Japanese delegation's neglect of reporters and focusing almost entirely on President Roosevelt, Witte clearly had a much deeper understanding of the nature of the United States. So after Witt and his entourage came to the United States, they went directly to New York, visited Roosevelt on December 24, and spent Christmas in New York. On the 26th, Witte held his first press conference in New York, saying that the purpose of this trip to the United States was to convey His Majesty's will for peace, that his mission was to understand the conditions put forward by the East China Government and Japan and to report to His Majesty, that the negotiations must be based on fait accompli, that all proposals based on extrapolation of the future are meaningless, and that if the negotiations cannot reach a result, it must not be regarded as Russia's lack of sincerity.

As for his assessment of the war in the Far East, Witte claimed to the reporters: Russia's losses in the war were not great, the East China government did not gain much advantage, and Russia could completely continue fighting, but it was only under the special circumstances of the good offices of the US president, and His Majesty the Tsar, in consideration of the friendly relations with the United States and the contribution of peace to the Far East, that he accepted President Roosevelt's suggestion to participate in the negotiations, not because Russia was afraid of war.

At the same time, Witte also said to the reporters present: It is a great pleasure to visit the United States, a friendly country, and it is also a pleasure to meet with the American press, whose work is useful and effective, and I would like to salute you. Sure enough, Werther's cordial attitude drew applause from the audience at the press conference, and reporters rushed to shake hands with Werther.

Japan and Russia have both arrived in the United States, and both have launched a series of activities to prepare for the negotiations, and now wait for the delegation of the East China government to arrive in the United States.