252. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission to the United Nations0
1687. Eyes only for Stevenson and McCloy. At a suitable occasion in our negotiations with Kuznetsov and in connection with any discussion with him on the question of our continued reconnaissance, you should express to Kuznetsov our growing concern over fact Soviets are continuing work at and improve anti-aircraft arsenal in Cuba. We are concerned that someone might have the motive of interfering with our reconnaissance. We have made it amply clear to the Soviets that, in the absence of other safeguards, we must and will continue that reconnaissance. We have no desire to return to the days of late October and assume this is also shared by the Soviets. The Soviets must recognize that destruction of American aircraft and loss of American life arising from this deliberate activity of the Soviet Union could well have such consequences. We hope Kuznetsov will understand that our motive in bringing this to his attention is simply to make sure that there is no misunderstanding on this point. In short, we feel it would be unwise continue this buildup in view of the non-belligerent and non-provocative character and intent of our reconnaissance.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.56361/12-1862. Top Secret. Drafted and approved by U. Alexis Johnson and cleared in substance with the President.↩