Negotiations between Czechoslovakia and Hungary resumed via diplomatic channels. Czechoslovakia adopted the "Ribbentrop line" in the hope that it would receive a guarantee of new borders from the side of Axis powers and proposed it officially on October 22. Czechoslovakia offered to cede Hungary territory with 494,646 Hungarians and 168,632 Slovaks. Czechoslovakia would retain Bratislava, Nitra and Košice. Hungary turned down the proposal, causing Germany to withdraw its position as mediator. Hungary demanded for the territories offered by Czechoslovakia to be immediately occupied by Hungary, for there be a plebiscite in the disputed territory and for Subcarpathia to "decide its own future". For Czechoslovakia, it was unacceptable to cede territories immediately that were not subject of discussion and to resolve the question of the remaining parts later. By accepting the proposal, Czechoslovak boundary fortifications would stay on the Hungarian side, and the Hungarian army could invade more Czechoslovak territory. Hungary also warned that if Czechoslovakia refused that proposal, Hungary would demand arbitration (Italo-German in Western Slovakia, Italo-German-Polish in Eastern Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus'). Then, Czechoslovakia would have no choice but to accept Hungarian demands or to agree with arbitration. That decision was forced also by fact that France and Britain had lost interest on Czechoslovakia and considered the region to be in the German sphere of influence. Both parties hoped that Germany would support their demands. The Slovak autonomous government also accepted the idea of arbitration with unrealistic expectations, based on assurances of Ribbentrop.