241. Editorial Note
In a letter of September 28, 1962, to President Kennedy, in which he discussed a nuclear test ban (see Document 239), Chairman Khrushchev also discussed Cuba and Berlin and protested Kennedyʼs September 7 request to Congress for authority to call up the Ready Reserve. He called the request “a step making the atmosphere red-hot” and one “that, naturally, forces the other side to respond in kind. What could it lead to, all the [Page 507] more that you consider that the U.S. has the right to attack Cuba whenever it wishes?” Khrushchev concluded his letter: “I would ask you to correctly understand our anxiety and not to do anything that could further aggravate the atmosphere and even expose the world. We on our part again say to you that we will do nothing with regard to West Berlin until after the elections in the U.S. After the elections, apparently in the second half of November, it would be necessary in our opinion to continue the dialogue.” For text, see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume VI, pages 152–161.