<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Emissaries sent by both Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to meet at the Yenching Palace Chinese restaurant in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC, on the evening of October 27 . Kennedy suggested to take Khrushchev's offer to trade away the missiles . Unknown to most members of the EXCOMM, Robert Kennedy had been meeting with the Soviet Ambassador in Washington to discover whether the intentions were genuine . The EXCOMM was generally against the proposal because it would undermine NATO's authority, and the Turkish government had repeatedly stated it was against any such trade . </P> <P> As the meeting progressed, a new plan emerged, and Kennedy was slowly persuaded . The new plan called for him to ignore the latest message and instead to return to Khrushchev's earlier one . Kennedy was initially hesitant, feeling that Khrushchev would no longer accept the deal because a new one had been offered, but Llewellyn Thompson argued that it was still possible . White House Special Counsel and Adviser Ted Sorensen and Robert Kennedy left the meeting and returned 45 minutes later, with a draft letter to that effect . The President made several changes, had it typed, and sent it . </P> <P> After the EXCOMM meeting, a smaller meeting continued in the Oval Office . The group argued that the letter should be underscored with an oral message to Dobrynin that stated that if the missiles were not withdrawn, military action would be used to remove them . Rusk added one proviso that no part of the language of the deal would mention Turkey, but there would be an understanding that the missiles would be removed "voluntarily" in the immediate aftermath . The President agreed, and the message was sent . </P>

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