MOSCOW, Nov. 21, 1962 (UPI) -- The Soviet Union today canceled the military preparedness measures it took last month at the height of the Cuban crisis. It said President Kennedy's lifting of the Cuban blockade made the relaxation possible.
The orders to the Soviet Union armed forces and satellite powers disclosed for the first time that intercontinental ballistic missiles had been in a state of combat readiness and indicated that some submarines had been sent to battle stations.
The announcement came shortly after Radio Moscow told the Soviet people of the President's decision to end the blockade. But the broadcast did not mention the fact that U. S. aerial surveillance of the island will continue.
Later, Radio Moscow broke its silence on the Chinese Communist cease-fire in the Indian border war. It broadcast a four-minute summary of the Chinese decision, without comment.
Radio Moscow said military relaxation was ordered "in connection with the possibility that has appeared for liquidating the aftermath of the dangerous crisis that has taken place in the Caribbean Sea."
Pravda did not carry the President's announcement, but it did print Cuban Premier Fidel Castro's message to acting UN Secretary-General Thant offering to give up his Soviet bombers.
The announcement rescinding the military measures disclosed for the first time that several preparedness steps had been taken during the crisis without having been made public.
When the Russians took their military readiness steps a month ago, they warned that the American blockade of Cuba would "unleash a thermonuclear world war."
