<P> Therefore, Soviet nuclear capability in 1962 placed less emphasis on ICBMs than on medium and intermediate - range ballistic missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs). The missiles could hit American allies and most of Alaska from Soviet territory but not the Contiguous US . Graham Allison, the director of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, points out, "The Soviet Union could not right the nuclear imbalance by deploying new ICBMs on its own soil . In order to meet the threat it faced in 1962, 1963, and 1964, it had very few options . Moving existing nuclear weapons to locations from which they could reach American targets was one ." </P> <P> A second reason that Soviet missiles were deployed to Cuba was because Khrushchev wanted to bring West Berlin, controlled by the American, British and French within Communist East Germany, into the Soviet orbit . The East Germans and Soviets considered western control over a portion of Berlin a grave threat to East Germany . Khrushchev made West Berlin the central battlefield of the Cold War . Khrushchev believed that if the US did nothing over the missile deployments in Cuba, he could muscle the West out of Berlin using said missiles as a deterrent to western countermeasures in Berlin . If the US tried to bargain with the Soviets after it became aware of the missiles, Khrushchev could demand trading the missiles for West Berlin . Since Berlin was strategically more important than Cuba, the trade would be a win for Khrushchev, as Kennedy recognized: "The advantage is, from Khrushchev's point of view, he takes a great chance but there are quite some rewards to it ." </P> <P> Khrushchev was also reacting in part to the nuclear threat of obsolescent Jupiter intermediate - range ballistic missiles that had been installed by the US in Turkey in April 1962 . </P> <P> In early 1962, a group of Soviet military and missile construction specialists accompanied an agricultural delegation to Havana . They obtained a meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro . The Cuban leadership had a strong expectation that the US would invade Cuba again and enthusiastically approved the idea of installing nuclear missiles in Cuba . However, according to another source, Castro objected to the missiles deployment that would have made him look like a Soviet puppet, but he was persuaded that missiles in Cuba would be an irritant to the US and help the interests of the entire socialist camp . Also, the deployment would include short - range tactical weapons (with a range of 40 km, usable only against naval vessels) that would provide a "nuclear umbrella" for attacks upon the island . </P>

When did the us place nuclear weapons in turkey