PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO KHRUSHCHEV OF 28 OCTOBER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00428A000200040041-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2005
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: October 28, 1962
• Content Type: MF

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Approved For Release 2005/06/01 : CIA-RDP79T00428A000200040041-7
 Temits at Kennedy Message, tatemen
Approveq fi g@ a 29e95/091 11oU'c'A-9Re R~e19r~ane3 o ect ve United Nations ar-
( UPI)-Following are the texts a few decades ago. rangements.
of a message oll from Pre t I agree with you that we Assuming this is done I I v' I
ive Kennedy to Premier Khrushchev tou the eproblem of dat t isarma-representativesain New Yo my
today and Mr. Kennedy's state- ment, as it relates to the instructions that will permit
eet on the Sooviet proposal to whole world and also to criti- them to
m work out this week-
disma in Cuba: cal areas. Perhaps now, as we end-in cooperation with the
step back from danger, we Acting Secretary General and
can together make real prog- your representative-an ar-
The Message
es
th
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Dear
m replying at once to
your broadcast message of
Oct. 28, even though the offi-
cial text has not .yet reached
me, because of the great im-
portance I attach to moving
forward promptly to the set-
tlement of. the Cuban crisis. I
think that you and I, with our
heavy responsibilities for the
maintenance of peace, were
aware that developments were
approaching a point where
manageable. So I welcome this
message and consider it an
important contribution to
peace.
The distinguished efforts of
Acting Secretary General U
Thant have greatly facilitated
both our tasks. I consider my
letter to you of Oct. 27 and
your reply of today as'firm
undertakings on part of both
our Governments which shoud
be promptly carried out. I
hope that the necessary lnnas
ures can at once be taken
through the United Nations,
as your message says, so that
the United States in turn will
be able to remove the quar-
antine measures now in ef-
fect. I have already made ar-
rangements to report all these
.matters to the Organization
of American States, whose,
members share a deep inter-
est in a genuine peace in the
Caribbean area. -
You referred in your letter
to a violation to your frontier
by an American aircraft in
the area of the Chukotsk
Peninsula. I have learned that
this plane, without arms or
photographic equipment, was
engaged in an air sampling
in connection with your nu-
clear tests its course was
direct from Eielson Air Force
I base in Alaska to the North
;Pole and return. In turning
south, the pilot made a seri-
ous navigational error which
carried him over Soviet ter-
ritory. He immediately made
an emergency call on an open
radio for navigational assist.
ance and was guided back to
his home base by the most
direct route.
Precautions Promised
' I regret this incident and
will see to it that every pre-
caution is taken to prevent
reoccurrence.
Mr. Chairman, both our"
countries have unfinished
tasks and I know that- your
people as well as the United
States can ask for nothing
better than to pursue them
Appi>mved W, i-ResR$St~cN5
ogy have given us the-possi-
bility of making labor fruit-
ful beyond anything that
s m
is vital field. I think rangement for a permanent
we should give priority to solution to the Cuban problem
questions relating to the pro- along the lines. suggested in
liferation of nuclear weapons, your letter of Oct. 26th. As I
on earth and in outer space, read your letter, the key ele-
and to the great effort for a ments of your proposals-
nuclear test ban. But we -which seem generally ac-
should also work hard to see ceptable as I understand
.if wider measures of disarm- them-are as follows:
ament can be agreed'to and 1) You would agree to re-
put into operation at an early move these weapons systems
date. from Cuba under appropriate
The United States Govern. United Nations observation
ment will be prepared to dis- and supervision; and under-
cuss these questions urgently, take, with suitable safe-
and in a constructive spirit, guards, to halt the further in-
at Geneva or elsewhere. troduction of such weapons
JOHN F. KENNEDY. systems into Cuba.
2
The Statement
I welcome Chairman
Khrushchev's . statesmanlike
decision to stop building bases
in Cuba, dismantling offen-
sive weapons and returning
them to the Soviet Union un-
der United Nations verifica.
tion.
This is an important and
constructive contribution to
peace.
We shall be in touch with
the Secretary General of the
United Nations with respect
to reciprocal measures to as-
sure peace in the Caribbean
area.
It is my earnest hope that
the governments-of the world
can, with a solution of the
Cuban crisis, turn their urgent
attention to the compelling
necessity for ending the arms
race and reducing world ten-
sions.
This applies to the military
confrontation between the
Warsaw Pact and NATO
countries as well as to other
situations in other parts of
the world where tensions lead
to the wasteful diversion of
resources to weapons. of war.
Kennedy Letter
SPeclal to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oot. 27-Folk
lowing is the text of a reply by
President Kennedy to Premier
Khrushchev, ssent Saturday. it
was in reply to a letter sent
directly to President Kennedy
Friday by Mr. Khrushchev.andl
not mode public.
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I have read your letter of
Oct. 26 with great 'care and
welcomed the statement of
your desire to seek a prompt
solution to the problem. The
first thing that needs to be
done, however, is for. work to
in 19T
fa" It d 9for aT1`
weapons systems in Cuba ca-
pable of offensive use to be
rendered inoperable. under ef-
) We, on our part, would
agree-upon the establish-
ment of adequate arrange.
ments through the United
Nations, to ensure the carry-
ing out and continuation of
these commitments=(a) to
remove promptly the quaran-
tine measures now in effect
and (b) to give assurances
against an invasion of Cuba.
I am confident that other na-
tions of the Western Hemis-
phere would be prepared to
do likewise.
If you will give your repre-
sentative similar instruc-
tions, there is no reason why
we should not be able to com-
plete these arrangements and
announce them -to the world
within a couple of 'days. The
effect of such a settlement
on ' easing world tensions
would enable us to. work to-
ward a more general ar-
rangement regarding "other
armaments," as proposed in
your second letter, which you
made public. I would like to
say again that the United
States is very much inter-
ested in reducing tensions
and halting the arms race;
and if your letter signifies
that you are prepared to dis-
cuss "a detente' affecting
NATO and the Warsaw Pact,
we are. quite prepared to con-
sider'with our allies any use-
ful proposals.
. But the first ingredient, let
me emphasize, is the cessa-
tion of work on missile sites
in Cuba and measures to ren-
der such weapons inoper-
able, under effective interna-
tional guarantees. The con-
tinuation of this threat, or a
prolonging of this discussion
concerning Cuba by linking
these problems to the broader
questions of European and
world security, would surely
lead to an intensification of
the Cuban crisis and a grave
risk to the peace of the
world; For .this reason I hope
0 o 0d4inthis s le
? m Suti ne o g
ter and in your letter of Oct.