1962 22nd October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dobrynin received formal American communications after Kennedy publicly announced the missile evidence and naval quarantine.
Cold War · October 1962 · permanent subject timeline
Kennedy–Khrushchev Letters and Back-channel Diplomacy
The messages, unofficial contacts and private bargaining that helped resolve the crisis. This page combines historical context with 22 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis archive.
Historical context
Kennedy–Khrushchev Letters and Back-channel Diplomacy: overview and significance
What happened?
Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged messages while intermediaries including Robert Kennedy, Anatoly Dobrynin, John Scali and Aleksandr Feklisov carried or explored possible settlement terms.
Why was it important?
The mixture of formal and unofficial communication helped both governments identify an agreement without requiring either side to accept every term publicly.
World History Database records
Kennedy–Khrushchev Letters and Back-channel Diplomacy timeline
The records below are selected from the 195-record Cuban Missile Crisis archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1962
1962 25th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev exchanged messages with Kennedy as both governments searched for a way to prevent the naval confrontation from escalating.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dobrynin maintained urgent contact with Moscow while unofficial channels explored possible terms for ending the confrontation.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Feklisov, using the name Aleksandr Fomin, discussed a possible settlement with journalist John Scali.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Feklisov relayed John Scali's interest in a possible settlement through Soviet channels while official negotiations remained uncertain.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khruschev sends a letter to Kennedy suggesting that the sites would be dismantled if the United States gave its reassurance that it would not invade Cuba.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev sent Kennedy a lengthy private message proposing missile withdrawal in return for a pledge that Cuba would not be invaded.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev sends a letter to Kennedy suggesting that the sites would be dismantled if the United States gave its reassurance that it would not invade Cuba.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Robert Kennedy supported giving diplomacy more time after Khrushchev sent a message offering missile removal for a non-invasion pledge.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Scali reported a Soviet back-channel proposal linking missile removal to a United States pledge not to invade Cuba.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Thompson interpreted Khrushchev's first letter as a serious opening for a negotiated settlement.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dobrynin received an urgent warning that the United States would soon act if the Cuban missiles remained.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dobrynin heard Robert Kennedy privately indicate that the obsolete Jupiter missiles in Turkey would be removed after the Cuban crisis.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Feklisov continued informal contact with Scali as Washington and Moscow searched for a formula that could end the crisis.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy authorized Robert Kennedy to tell Dobrynin privately that American Jupiter missiles in Turkey would later be removed.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Robert Kennedy met secretly with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin at the Justice Department.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Robert Kennedy told Dobrynin that the President could not publicly trade the Turkish Jupiter missiles for Soviet missiles in Cuba.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Robert Kennedy warned Dobrynin that events could soon escape political control if the Soviet missiles were not withdrawn.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Rusk participated in the decision to respond to Khrushchev's earlier letter rather than accept the public Turkey-for-Cuba trade.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Thompson urged Kennedy to answer Khrushchev's first message and avoid becoming trapped by the later public demand concerning Turkey.
1962 28th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dobrynin reported American reactions to Moscow as the Soviet government announced acceptance of the missile-withdrawal settlement.
1962 28th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Thompson helped assess Khrushchev's acceptance message and advised continued attention to Soviet implementation.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
FRUS: Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath · JFK Library · U.S. National Archives
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