The narrative that NATO expansion violated a promise made to Russia at the end of the Cold War is one of the most persistent myths in modern geopolitics.
So propagandizing for US empire is your goal? Or reviving the Red Scare to distract from the incompetence and dual loyalty of Democrats? Here is the reality that was indeed revealed in unsealed documents, and unfortunately for you there are more than a few witnesses to the meeting and subsequent conversations that don't seem to agree with your accounts. I wonder what the purpose of your misinformation is.... https://natowatch.org/newsbriefs/2018/how-gorbachev-was-misled-over-assurances-against-nato-expansion
Thanks for explaining this important historic context about NATO expansion, and making it clear that we need to know our history to be able to spot lies. It's so important. THANK YOU, Hollie, for your column and your research! -- Bonnie Williams
I think it’s important to note the stuff people are linking in the comments, even if it doesn’t really change much about what you’ve written. Those documents only prove that this was discussed and not that it was ever in any official written agreement. And verbal agreements are worth about as much as the paper they are written on. But, I also believe that this was meant if not explicitly stated by the United States and NATO even in the verbal/unofficial form to mean not IMMEDIATELY move NATO to the East of reunified Germany. Which they did not. When NATO did expand to the east in 1999, there was no complaint from Russia mostly because the Russians don’t have the cultural ties to the Baltic States even if they are geographically close to St. Petersburg and there was no agreement being broken.
This complaint from Putin really only surfaced as a genuine talking point after the 2014 Little Green Men Invasion of Ukraine and blithely ignores the actual, written agreement that the US had to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Russia respect it. So, the reality is that the Russians are complaining about an unofficial promise that was mostly if not entirely upheld, while ignoring the written agreement which said they’d respect Ukraines borders on a level of response equal to Article Five of NATO. Obama is the one that dropped the ball on that agreement in 2014 and now both sides are pretending that the actually signed agreement didn’t exist and obsess over a verbal agreement that never had any standing and didn’t really mean what they’re claiming. The globalist EU and neo-con types pretend it never happened…it did, but only unofficially and likely only in the short run. The Russians pretend that it was official and meant way, way more than it ever did.
Turns out, politicians on both sides are full of shit and bending the truth to their own means. I’m shocked, shocked that there’s gambling in this establishment!
So propagandizing for US empire is your goal? Or reviving the Red Scare to distract from the incompetence and dual loyalty of Democrats? Here is the reality that was indeed revealed in unsealed documents, and unfortunately for you there are more than a few witnesses to the meeting and subsequent conversations that don't seem to agree with your accounts. I wonder what the purpose of your misinformation is.... https://natowatch.org/newsbriefs/2018/how-gorbachev-was-misled-over-assurances-against-nato-expansion
Thanks for explaining this important historic context about NATO expansion, and making it clear that we need to know our history to be able to spot lies. It's so important. THANK YOU, Hollie, for your column and your research! -- Bonnie Williams
I think it’s important to note the stuff people are linking in the comments, even if it doesn’t really change much about what you’ve written. Those documents only prove that this was discussed and not that it was ever in any official written agreement. And verbal agreements are worth about as much as the paper they are written on. But, I also believe that this was meant if not explicitly stated by the United States and NATO even in the verbal/unofficial form to mean not IMMEDIATELY move NATO to the East of reunified Germany. Which they did not. When NATO did expand to the east in 1999, there was no complaint from Russia mostly because the Russians don’t have the cultural ties to the Baltic States even if they are geographically close to St. Petersburg and there was no agreement being broken.
This complaint from Putin really only surfaced as a genuine talking point after the 2014 Little Green Men Invasion of Ukraine and blithely ignores the actual, written agreement that the US had to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Russia respect it. So, the reality is that the Russians are complaining about an unofficial promise that was mostly if not entirely upheld, while ignoring the written agreement which said they’d respect Ukraines borders on a level of response equal to Article Five of NATO. Obama is the one that dropped the ball on that agreement in 2014 and now both sides are pretending that the actually signed agreement didn’t exist and obsess over a verbal agreement that never had any standing and didn’t really mean what they’re claiming. The globalist EU and neo-con types pretend it never happened…it did, but only unofficially and likely only in the short run. The Russians pretend that it was official and meant way, way more than it ever did.
Turns out, politicians on both sides are full of shit and bending the truth to their own means. I’m shocked, shocked that there’s gambling in this establishment!
In this video there are images of the unsealed documents directly contradicting your claims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiK6DijNLGE