22nd October 1962
Kennedy announced his course of action (to employ a naval blockade) on national television.
25th October
25 ships en route to Cuba from Russia turned round before they reached Cuba, pulling back from direct conflict.
26th October
Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev offering to remove the missiles from Cuba in exchange for the promise that USA would invade Cuba.
27th October
Before Kennedy could reply to the first, a second letter from Khrushchev was received demanding that USA removed their missiles from Turkey. Kennedy refused to remove the American missiles in Turkey because he felt a deal over the missiles would damage American prestige. Instead he replied to the first letter promising to lift the naval blockade and not invade Cuba as long as all the missiles in Cuba were removed and none more installed there. The president’s brother informed the Russian ambassador (evening of 27th October) that the president had considered removing the missiles from Turkey for some time.
28th October
In a reply to the reply from Kennedy to the first letter, Khrushchev acknowledged that the conflict was endangering world peace and agreed to have the missiles removed.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was now over and the missile sites had been flattened. However, one query remained. Did Kennedy make some secret concessions with Khrushchev, as about 3-4 months after the conflict, the USA removed its missiles from Turkey and Italy.