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Eisenhower’s statement left Khrushchev in a difficult position. If he did nothing, that would be tantamount to acknowledging implicitly the right of the United States to spy. But any action Khrushchev did take had the potential to scuttle the upcoming conference and his larger plans for a Soviet-American détente. Ultimately, he demanded that Eisenhower apologize for the past flights and promise to discontinue them as a precondition for entering into the planned negotiations on Germany. Eisenhower’s refusal led the Soviet delegation to leave Paris just as the summit was about to begin.
After extensive questioning by the KGB, Powers was convicted of spying and sentenced to three years in prison and seven more of hard labor. In February, 1962, however, he and a detained American student were traded for a captured Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel. Although Eisenhower refused to end the U-2 program, it was quickly overtaken by new technology, as satellite images replaced aerial photographs. For his part, Khrushchev abandoned his attempts to cooperate with Eisenhower, opting instead to wait for the inauguration of the new U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, elected to office in November, 1960.
* Republished from [https://history.state.gov/| Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]* Article: [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/u2-incident| U-2 Overflights and the Capture of Francis Gary Powers, 1960] [[Category:US State Department]] [[Category:Wikis]][[Category:United States History]] [[Category: Cold War History]] [[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Political History]] [[Category:Diplomatic History]] [[Category:Russian History]]
