JFK REMINDS SOVIETS OF U.S. POSITION ON MISSILES IN CUBA
Washington (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago, October 18, 1962, President John F. Kennedy met in the Oval Office with representatives of the government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The meeting, which began at 5 p.m., included USSR UN Ambassador Andrei Gromyko*, Deputy Minister Vladimir Seyemenov, and Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet ambassador to the United States. Gromyko read a statement from a prepared text in which his government restated that all assistance to Cuba was for "purely defensive" purposes.
SOURCE
"Thirteen Days In October, Day 3 October 18", John F. Kennedy Library, www.microsites.jfklibrary.org/
Soviets Meet With JFK
Washington (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago, October 18, 1962, President John F. Kennedy met in the Oval Office with representatives of the government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The meeting, which began at 5 p.m., included USSR UN Ambassador Andrei Gromyko*, Deputy Minister Vladimir Seyemenov, and Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet ambassador to the United States. Gromyko read a statement from a prepared text in which his government restated that all assistance to Cuba was for "purely defensive" purposes.
The President, having photographic evidence in his desk drawer proving otherwise, did not disclose what he knew. In a interview later in December, JFK said that he did not show Gromyko the photographs because his "information was incomplete" and he didn't want to give the Soviets the advantage of publicly announcing the presence of the missiles before he did.
President Kennedy simply read his statement of September 4th (1962) which warned of the "gravest consequence" if the Soviet Union installed offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba.
JFK referred to this meeting with Gromyko in his address of October 22nd (1962) announcing a blockade of the island.
The President said...
"Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet foreign minister Gromyko told me in my office...that 'Soviet assistance to Cuba (was)...solely (for the) defensive capabilities of Cuba and that if it were otherwise...(his) government would never become involved in rendering assistance.'"
*Andrei Gromyko (1909-1989) was born in Staryja Hramyki, Russia and became a member of the All Union Communist Party Bolsheviks in 1931. In 1936, after 3 years in the study of economics, he did research and gave lectures at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. AG entered the diplomatic service in 1939 & served 28 years as Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs.
"Thirteen Days In October, Day 3 October 18", John F. Kennedy Library, www.microsites.jfklibrary.org/
Soviets Meet With JFK
Oval Office
October 18, 1962
JFK Library Photo
