News | Cuba Crisis

Correspondent John Crawley reports for the radio newsreel from the UN headquarters in New York on the meeting of the Security Council. He outlines the US, Cuban and Soviet delegates' speeches, with both sides accusing each other of being the aggressor and a threat to world peace. Significantly, Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin states that his country had not sent, and would not be sending, offensive armaments to Cuba. He then proposes a resolution condemning the USA's actions, calling for an end to the blockade and demanding that negotiations begin.

The UN Security Council meeting took place on 23 October 1962 and a few days later, in an emergency meeting, US Ambassador Adlai Stevenson (pictured) produced photographic evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. It was to become one of the most renowned diplomatic coups in history.