Itar-Tass: Anatoly Dobrynin, diplomat at center of Cuban missile crisis, dead at 90

Soviet diplomat Anatoly Dobrynin dead at 90

MOSCOW — Anatoly Dobrynin, a Soviet diplomat who represented Moscow during the Cuban missile crisis and later in key superpower negotiations to curb the growth of nuclear arsenals, is dead at age 90, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported Thursday.

Dobrynin died in Moscow, Itar-Tass said, adding that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, expressed deep condolences on learning of his death.

Dobrynin never intended to become a diplomat, but ended up as one of the Cold War’s most prominent and respected, playing a key role in resolving the Cuban missile crisis and representing the Soviet Union in Washington for a quarter-century.