The Soviet ambassador to the U.S. during the Cuban Missile crisis has died at the age of 91, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Anatoly Dobrynin was named Soviet ambassador to the U.S. in 1962 and remained in the post until 1986.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences over the diplomat's death, calling him a "legend of Russian diplomacy."
"It is hard to overestimate Dobrynin's personal contribution to the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis and the normalization of Soviet-U.S. relations," he said.
Dobrynin held talks with then U.S. president John Kennedy during the 1962 crisis, which began when the Soviet Union deployed nuclear weapons in Cuba.
He also held secret negotiations with Kennedy's younger brother, U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, which resulted in Washington dismantling its missile shield in Turkey in exchange for the removal of Soviet nuclear weapons from Cuba.
MOSCOW, April 8 (RIA Novosti)
