VATICAN II AND THE COLD WAR 39tempt to ship armaments to Cuba. To this Kennedy agreed.26 On
October 26, Khrushchev wrote Kennedy a personal letter. Stating
his general agreement with U Thant’s plea for negotiations, he
then asked Kennedy to guarantee that neither the United States
nor any other nation would invade Cuba. He further proposed
more general discussions on disarmament.27 But then the Soviet
position seemed to harden.
On October 27, Khrushchev sent a second letter to Kennedy,
broadcast over Radio Moscow ahead of its reception in Washing-
ton. He now introduced the question of Jupiter missiles in Tur-
key, “literally next to us.” While praising Kennedy’s agreement
to accept U Thant’s mediation, the general secretary now pro-
posed the removal of the missiles from Turkey in exchange for
the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. Both the Soviet Union
and the United States would then make statements “within the
framework of the Security Council” pledging to respect the sov-
ereignty and borders of, respectively, Turkey and Cuba.
While this second letter seemed to represent the hardlin-
ers in the Kremlin more than Khrushchev himself, there were,
nevertheless, some indications that the general secretary was re-
acting to the papal appeal. Contrary to the usual Soviet policy,
Khrushchev again called for negotiations. Specifically, he stated,
Of course, for this we would have to come to an agreement with you
and specify a certain time limit. Let us agree to some period of time,
but without unnecessary delay—say within two or three weeks, not
longer than a month.- • •
If you are agreeable to my proposal, Mr. President, then we would
send our representatives to New York, to the United States, and
would give them comprehensive instructions in order that an agree-
- New York Times, October 27, 1962.
- Khrushchev to Kennedy, October 26, 1962, in Chang and Kornbluh, eds., Cu-
ban Missile Crisis, 185–88.