What was the cause of the 1962 confrontation between the USSR and the US?

The 1962 confrontation between the USSR and the US, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, was primarily caused by the Soviet Union's installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the US mainland. This move was seen as a direct threat to US national security and was a response to the US's own missile deployments in Turkey and Italy. The crisis escalated tensions between the two superpowers, leading to a 13-day standoff that brought the world close to nuclear war. Ultimately, it ended with the US agreeing to withdraw its missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet Union removing its missiles from Cuba.