942 Chapter 7
Meanwhile, the leaders of the two countries sent letters back and forth. On October
26, Khrushchev sent a letter in which he offered to withdraw the missiles in exchange
for an end to the blockade and a guarantee that the United States would not invade
Cuba. Khrushchev then sent another letter the next day that proposed the Soviets
would withdraw the missiles from Cuba if the United States would withdraw its mis-
siles from Turkey. On October 28, Khrushchev announced over Moscow Radio that
the Soviet Union would withdraw the weapons under international supervision. In
addition, Kennedy secretly agreed to withdraw US missiles from Turkey over four to
five months.
The United States and Soviet Union continued discussions. A couple issues arose
in implementing the agreement they had made: first, the Soviets did not consider
IL-28 bombers to be offensive, and, second, Castro refused to allow verification mis-
sions. On November 20, Kennedy gave a press conference that announced solutions
to these problems. The Soviets would withdraw the IL-28s within 30 days; the United
Nations would not send a verification team, but the Soviets would allow US ships to
stop and inspect departing Soviet ships. The United States would also use its own
reconnaissance methods for verification and would lift the blockade. On December
11, Khrushchev wrote to Kennedy that the Soviets had completed removing the mis-
siles from Cuba.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from January 28, 1962.
MID#2899
Dispute Number: 2899
Date(s): March 15, 1963
Participants: 365 Russia/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The United States protested that two Soviet planes violated Alaskan air-
space. The Soviets denied that any airspace violation had occurred.
MID#2220
Dispute Number: 2220
Date(s): January 28, 1964 to March 27, 1964
Participants: 2 United States of America/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (None)
Fatalities: 1–25 deaths
Narrative: Soviet fighters shot down an American training jet after it strayed over the
East German border, killing three American officers. Another American plane was
shot down over East Germany by Soviet fighters two months later, and the crew were
detained. They were released 17 days later.
MID#611
Started in May 1964. See the narrative in the 2 United States of America/816 Vietnam
dyad dispute list.