Who Promised What to Whom on NATO Expansion?
All the credit for this article should go to the National Security Archives that holds all the documents I am referring to.
Source: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early
While I can’t say for certain that the Soviet Union was promised by the Western leaders that ‘not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction’ (James Baker, US Secretary of State, Record of Conversation between Baker and Gorbachev), the official records of conversations between leaders, memorandums and other papers clearly show that the topic was on the table in 1990.
Why is this relevant? It shows that the Western powers knew very well what a NATO expansion to the east really means for the old Soviet Union and for the new Russia. All the Western leaders knew 3 decades ago that Russia would feel threatened by a NATO expansion towards its borders.
We can all accuse Russia for its actions but framing it as an ‘unprovoked’ war is not accurate.
