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(Thursday, October 25, 1962, evening EST; day ten of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — In a dramatic confrontation today before the United Nations Security Council in New York City, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba.

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Stevenson asked, “Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed and is placing medium and intermediate-range missiles and sites in Cuba? Yes or no? Don’t wait for the translation. Yes or no?”

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Zorin laughed and then said, “I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and therefore I do not wish to answer a question that is put to me in the fashion in which a prosecutor puts questions. In due course, you will have your reply.”

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“I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over if that’s your decision,” Stevenson replied.

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When the chief Soviet representative did not reply “yes or no” to the question, Stevenson introduced photographic evidence to support the charge. He presented a display of enlarged photographs and maps to pinpoint the location of the missile basis.

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