Khrushchev deemed Kennedy weak both personally, due to his inexperience, and politically, due to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. He sent Kennedy an ultimatum: if he didn’t agree to the creation of a demilitarized zone in Berlin, the USSR would severely restrict NATO access to West Berlin. Kennedy refused to accept the conditions, and the Soviet leader replied that it wasn’t up to the United States to decide whether there would be war or not. Kennedy responded that it would be a cold winter then.
