Harried but blustering, Khrushchev cited Lenin’s actions during World War I to explain (and justify) his exit strategy. In March 1918 Lenin had agreed to surrender Russian territory for peace with Germany. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk had been a retreat, but it had saved Bolshevism. “Our interests dictated that decision—we had to save Soviet power. Now we found ourselves face to face with the danger of war and of nuclear catastrophe, with the possible result of destroying the human race,” Khrushchev said. “To save the world,” it was necessary to follow Lenin’s example.

Martin J. Sherwin, Gambling with armageddon: Nuclear roulette from hiroshima to the cuban missile crisis, 1945-1962, New York, 2020, p. 463