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On the last day of his Vienna visit, Jack Kennedy rose early to bone up for the morning's session with Khrushchev, then escorted Jackie to 9 o'clock Mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral. About the same time, Khrushchev solemnly laid a wreath of red carnations at the base of the Russian war memorial in Schwarzenbergplatz, stood with bared head bowed for nearly five minutes before the marble column. Then, just after 10, Kennedy and his advisers drove up to the grey, stuccoed Soviet embassy for a lunch and final matching of wits on nuclear testing, disarmament and Berlin. "I greet you on a small piece of our Soviet territory," said Khrushchev to his guest. "Sometimes we drink out of a small glass, but we speak with great feeling." Answered Kennedy: "I'm glad to hear this."
Lunch was delayed an hour so that the final arguments could continue; afterward, Kennedy delayed his departure to talk a bit longer with Khrushchev. Then, much as they began, the meetings ended with surface cordiality. The Soviets had not thawed—but they also had not displayed any disturbing belligerence. As in Paris, John Kennedy left Vienna without having made a binding pact or decision—at least none that was announced or hinted at. But in the private chats with Khrushchev, he had at least heard, untrammeled, the voice of the enemy. And having heard that voice, Jack Kennedy this week flew off, with an important London stopover, for home.