View source for Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany

{{short description|1990 treaty returning full sovereignty to Germany}}
{{redirect|Final Settlement|the Nazi plan|Final Solution|generic uses|Settlement (litigation)}}
{{use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox Treaty
 |name = Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
 |image = Unterschriften 2+4.jpg
 |image_width = 300px
 |date_drafted = 13 February 1990
 |date_signed = 12 September 1990
 |location_signed = {{nowrap|[[Moscow]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]}}
 |date_sealed =
 |date_effective = 15 March 1991
 |date_expiration =
 |signatories = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|West Germany}} [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]]
*{{flagicon|East Germany}} [[Lothar de Maizière]]
*{{flagicon|France}} [[Roland Dumas]]
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Eduard Shevardnadze]]
*{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Douglas Hurd]]
*{{flagicon|United States}} [[James Baker]]
}}
 |parties={{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|West Germany}} [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]]
*{{flagicon|East Germany}} [[German Democratic Republic]]
*{{flagicon|France}} [[French Fifth Republic|France]]
*{{flag|Soviet Union}}
*{{flag|United Kingdom}}
*{{flag|United States}}
}}|depositor = Government of the Federal Republic of Germany
 |language =
 |languages =
*[[English language|English]]
*[[French language|French]]
*[[German language|German]]
*[[Russian language|Russian]]
 |wikisource = Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
}}
The '''Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany''' ({{langx|de|Vertrag über die abschließende Regelung in B<!-- sic! -->ezug auf Deutschland}}{{efn|name=N1|{{langx|fr|Traité sur le règlement final en ce qui concerne l'Allemagne}};
{{langx|ru|Договор об окончательном урегулировании в отношении Германии|Dogovor ob okonchatel'nom uregulirovanii v otnoshenii Germanii}}}}),
more commonly referred to as the '''Two Plus Four Agreement''' ({{lang|de|Zwei-plus-Vier-Vertrag}}{{efn|name=N2|{{langx|fr|Accord Deux Plus Quatre}}; {{langx|ru|Соглашение «Два плюс четыре»|Soglasheniye «Dva plyus chetyre»}}}}),
is an international agreement that allowed the [[reunification of Germany]] in October 1990. It was negotiated in 1990 between the 'two',  the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] and the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]], in addition to the [[Allied Control Council|Four Powers]] which had [[Allied-occupied Germany|occupied Germany]] at the [[end of World War II in Europe]]: [[France]], the [[Soviet Union]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]]. The treaty supplanted the 1945 [[Potsdam Agreement]]: in it, the Four Powers renounced all rights they had held with regard to Germany, allowing for its reunification as a fully [[sovereign state]] the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany |author=[[Federal Republic of Germany]] |date=12 September 1990 |website=[[United Nations]] |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=08000002800b8042&clang=_en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://foothill.edu/german-unification-study/finalset.html |title=Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany |website=Foothill College}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/2/1/2024.pdf |title=Legal Aspects of the Unification of the Two German States |last=Hailbronner |first=Kay |website=European Journal of International Law}}</ref> Additionally, the two German states agreed to reconfirm the [[Germany–Poland border|existing border]] with [[Poland]] in the [[German–Polish Border Treaty]], accepting that German territory post-reunification would consist only of what was presently administered by West and East Germany—renouncing explicitly any possible claims to the [[former eastern territories of Germany]] including [[East Prussia]], most of [[Silesia]], as well as the eastern parts of [[Brandenburg]] and [[Pomerania]].

== Background ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F083821-0005, Bonn, Auswärtiges Amt, 2-4 Verhandlungen.jpg|thumb|Hans-Dietrich Genscher and other participants in the first round of talks conducted in March 1990 to negotiate the treaty, 14 March 1990, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bonn]]
On 1 August 1945, the [[Potsdam Agreement]], promulgated in the [[Potsdam Conference]], among other things agreed on the initial terms under which the [[Allies of World War II]] would govern Germany. A provisional German–Polish border known as the [[Oder–Neisse line]] awarded, in theory within the context of that "provisional border", most of [[Former eastern territories of Germany|Germany's former eastern provinces]] to [[Poland]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The German populations of these areas either [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944-1950)|fled or were expelled]]. Although the [[German Democratic Republic]] formally accepted the border in the 1950 [[Treaty of Zgorzelec]] with Poland, [[West Germany]] initially entirely rejected it, declaring the treaty "null and void" in line with the [[Hallstein Doctrine]], and later reluctantly recognised the border in the 1970 [[Treaty of Warsaw (1970)|Treaty of Warsaw]] as provisional only, to be finalised by "a peace settlement for Germany to be accepted by the Government of Germany when a government adequate for the purpose is established" (Potsdam Agreement 1.3.1). The overall "German Question" became one of the salient and crucial issues of the long-running [[Cold War]], and until it ended in the late 1980s, little progress had been made in the establishment of a single government of Germany adequate for the purpose of agreeing to a final settlement. This meant that in some respects (largely, but not entirely, technical), Germany did not have full national [[sovereignty]].<ref name="Zelikow"/>{{rp|42–43}}

Several developments in 1989 and 1990, collectively termed {{lang|de|Die Wende}} and the [[Peaceful Revolution]], led to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] and the collapse of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED party]] in [[East Germany]] (GDR).
In a 9 February 1990 conversation with [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] held in Moscow, US Secretary of State [[James Baker]] argued in favor of holding the Two-Plus-Four talks. According to Moscow as well as Baker's notes, the famous "not one inch eastward" promise<ref name="Savranskaya Blanton"/> about NATO's eastward expansion was made during this conversation.<ref name=NationalInterest2017>
{{cite web |last=Majumdar |first=Dave |title=Newly Declassified Documents: Gorbachev Told NATO Wouldn't Move Past East German Border |work=[[The National Interest]] |date=12 December 2017 |access-date=8 March 2022 |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/newly-declassified-documents-gorbachev-told-nato-wouldnt-23629}}
</ref><ref name=Sarotte>
{{citation |title=A Broken Promise: What the West Really Told Moscow about NATO Expansion |last=Sarotte |first=Mary Elise |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=93 |number=5 |date=September–October 2014 |pages=90–97 |jstor=24483307}}
</ref>
The concession essentially meant that the western half of the unified Germany would be part of NATO but the eastern half would not. The US [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] pointed out that it would be unworkable, and the concession was later amended to state that NATO troops would not be stationed in East Germany.<ref name=Sarotte/>

On 18 March 1990, a [[East German general election, 1990|national election]] was held in the GDR, leading to an alliance of parties that favored [[German reunification]] winning a plurality.<ref name="Zelikow"/>{{rp|229–232}}<ref name="Maier">[[Charles S. Maier]], ''Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany'' (Princeton University Press, 1997). {{ISBN|978-0691007465}}, pp. 211–214.</ref>{{efn|A mechanism for such unification existed via the article 23 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany]].}} To achieve unity and full sovereignty, both German states were willing to accept the terms of the [[Potsdam Agreement]] that affected Germany.<ref name="Zelikow"/> On 31 August 1990, the FRG and GDR signed the Unification Treaty, which describes the manner and specifics of the GDR's accession to the Federal Republic. It was then possible for all international parties to negotiate a final settlement.<ref name="Zelikow"/>

== Treaty ==
The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed in Moscow on 12 September 1990,<ref name="Zelikow">
{{cite book |first1=Philip |last1=Zelikow |author-link1=Philip Zelikow |first2=Condoleezza |last2=Rice |author-link2=Condoleezza Rice |title=Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft |publisher=Harvard University Press |orig-year=1995 |year=1997 |isbn=9780674353251}}
</ref>{{rp|363}} and paved the way for [[German reunification]] on 3 October 1990.<ref>
{{cite web |title=The Two plus Four Treaty |publisher=Federal Foreign Office (Germany) |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/AAmt/PolitischesArchiv/EinblickeArchiv/ZweiPlusVier_node.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018005238/http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/AAmt/Uebersicht_node.html |archive-date=18 October 2013}}
</ref> Under the terms of the treaty, the Four Powers renounced all rights they formerly held in Germany, including those regarding the city of [[Berlin]].<ref name="Zelikow"/>{{Page needed|date=April 2024}} Upon deposit of the last instrument of ratification, united Germany became fully [[sovereign state|sovereign]] on 15 March 1991.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

=== Alliances ===
The treaty allows Germany to make and belong to alliances, without any foreign influence in its politics. However, West German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]], who became chancellor of the reunified Germany, made no secret that the enlarged Federal Republic would inherit the West German seats in NATO and the [[European Communities]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Costigliola |first=Frank |date=1994 |title=An 'Arm around the Shoulder': The United States, NATO and German Reunification, 1989-90 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20081501 |journal=Contemporary European History |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=99 |doi=10.1017/S0960777300000643 |jstor=20081501 |issn=0960-7773|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Military forces and nuclear weapons ===
All [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany|Soviet forces in Germany]] were to leave the country by the end of 1994. Before the Soviets withdrew, Germany would only deploy territorial defense units not integrated into the alliance structures. German forces in the rest of Germany were assigned to areas where Soviet troops were stationed. After the Soviets withdrew, the Germans could freely deploy troops in those areas, with the exception of nuclear weapons. For the duration of the Soviet presence, Allied troops would remain stationed in Berlin upon Germany's request.<ref name="Zelikow" />

Germany undertook efforts to reduce its [[armed forces]] to no more than 370,000 personnel, no more than 345,000 of whom were to be in the [[German Army|Army]] and the [[German Air Force|Air Force]]. These limits would commence at the time that the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]] would enter into force, and the treaty also took note that it was expected that the other participants in the negotiations would "render their contribution to enhancing security and stability in Europe, including measures to limit personnel strengths".<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/2plusfour8994e.htm |title=Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (two plus four) |via=U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany |date=12 September 1990}}
</ref> Germany also reaffirmed its renunciation of the manufacture, possession of, and control over nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and in particular, that the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] would continue to apply in full to the unified Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany). No foreign armed forces, nuclear weapons, or the carriers for nuclear weapons would be stationed or deployed in [[new states of Germany|six states]] (the area of Berlin and the former East Germany), making them a permanent [[Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone]]. The German Army could deploy conventional weapons systems with nonconventional capabilities, provided that they were equipped and designed for a purely conventional role. Germany also agreed to use military force only in accordance with the [[United Nations Charter]].<ref name="Zelikow" />

=== Future territorial claims ===
Another of the treaty's important provisions was Germany's confirmation of the by now internationally recognised border with Poland, and other territorial changes in Germany that had taken place since 1945, preventing any future claims to lost territory east of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] (see [[former eastern territories of Germany]]). The treaty defined the territory of a 'united Germany' as being the territory of East Germany, West Germany, and Berlin, prohibiting Germany from making any future territorial claims. Germany also agreed to sign a separate treaty with Poland reaffirming the present common border, binding under international law, effectively relinquishing these territories to Poland. This was done on 14 November 1990, with the signing of the [[German–Polish Border Treaty]].<ref name="Zelikow"/> Furthermore, the Federal Republic was required by the treaty to amend its [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law]] so as to be constitutionally prohibited from accepting any application for incorporation into Germany{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} from territories outside of East Germany, West Germany, and Berlin.

Although the treaty was signed by West and East Germany as separate sovereign states, it was subsequently [[ratification|ratified]] by the united Federal Republic of Germany.

== Implementation ==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2015}}
===Russian withdrawal from Germany===
After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union dissolved itself]] in December 1991, the command unit of the Soviet [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany]] devolved to the [[Russian Federation]]. The German government subsequently recognized the Russian Federation's claim to be the [[succession of states|successor state]] of the Soviet Union, including the right to maintain troops in Germany until the end of 1994. However, with post-Soviet Russia facing severe economic hardship, President [[Boris Yeltsin]] ordered Russian troop deployment in Germany to be reduced to levels significantly below those permitted in the Treaty. The last Russian troops left Germany at the end of August 1994, four months before the treaty deadline.

===Bundeswehr after the treaty===
In the first decade of the 21st century, the [[Bundeswehr]] underwent a gradual transformation to a fully professional force. By 1 July 2011, the date on which Germany voluntarily suspended [[conscription]], the Bundeswehr retained fewer than 250,000 active duty personnel – barely two thirds of the country's treaty limit. The defence minister at the time, [[Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg]], said that a cut to 185,000 persons was on the horizon.<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news |title=German army 'to suspend' conscription in 2011 |work=BBC News |date=2010-11-22 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11817312 |access-date=2024-11-18 }}</ref><ref name="loc1">{{cite news |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/07/60-year-anniversary-of-the-german-compulsory-military-service-act/ |title=60 Year Anniversary of the German Compulsory Military Service Act &#124; in Custodia Legis |date=21 July 2016 }}</ref>

== Later developments ==
{{Main|Enlargement of NATO|Russia–NATO relations}}
[[File:History of NATO enlargement.svg|thumb|Map showing the history of NATO enlargement in Europe]]
[[Russia]] and the [[Western countries]] signed in 1990 the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]] and in 1991 the [[Energy Charter Treaty]], establishing a multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the [[energy industry]], principally the [[fossil fuel industry]]; Russia postponed ratification of the latter treaty, linking it to the adoption of the Energy Charter Treaty Transit Protocol. In 1994, the [[Budapest Memorandum]] was signed where Russia, the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]] made security assurances to [[Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Ukraine]], in return for handing over by these three countries of their post-Soviet nuclear arsenal. In 1997, NATO and Russia signed the [[Russia–NATO Founding Act]], which stated that each country had a sovereign right to seek alliances.<ref>{{cite web |author1=NATO |author-link1=NATO |title=Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_25468.htm |publisher=[[NATO]]}}</ref> NATO ended up [[NATO Enlargement|expanding]] to sixteen Eastern countries (apart from the [[GDR]] in 1990): [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]], and [[Poland]] in 1999; [[Bulgaria]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Romania]], [[Slovakia]], and [[Slovenia]] in 2004; [[Albania]] and [[Croatia]] in 2009; [[Montenegro]] in 2017; [[North Macedonia]] in 2020; [[Finland]] in 2023; and [[Sweden]] in 2024, five of them on the border with Russia.

[[Russia–NATO relations]] started to deteriorate rapidly following the Ukrainian [[Orange Revolution]] in 2004–2005. In December 2006, Russia indicated that the ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty was unlikely due to the provisions requiring third-party access to Russia's pipelines.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/12/news/energy.php Russia gets tough on energy sales to Europe: No foreign access to pipelines, official says], by Judy Dempsey, [[International Herald Tribune]] 12 December 2006</ref> In 2007 Russia suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. In 2008, the relations deteriorated further and became almost  openly hostile, following the [[2008 Kosovo declaration of independence]] from Russia's ally [[Serbia]] and its partial recognition by the West, to which Russia responded in August 2008 with launching the [[Russo-Georgian War]]. On 20 August 2009, Russia officially informed the depository of the Energy Charter Treaty (the [[Government of Portugal]]) that it did not intend to become a contracting party to the treaty.<ref name=skadden>{{cite web |work=[[Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom]] |title=Arbitration Panel Holds That the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty Protects Foreign Energy Sector Investments in Former Soviet Union |date=5 February 2010 | url= https://www.skadden.com/insights/arbitration-panel-holds-1994-energy-charter-treaty-protects-foreign-energy-sector-investmen |access-date=8 May 2010 |url-status= live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716080855/https://www.skadden.com/content/Publications/Publications1978_0.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref> On 1 April 2014, NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operation with the Russian Federation in response to the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of Crimea]], but the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was not suspended.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/4/pdf/2003-NATO-Russia_en.pdf|title=NATO-Russia Relations: The Background|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 2020|website= |publisher=NATO|access-date=2021-06-11}}</ref> In 2015, Russia entirely terminated its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. On 18 February 2017, Russia's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]], [[Sergey Lavrov]], said he supported the resumption of military cooperation with the NATO alliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-lavrov-want-cooperation-with-nato-pragmatic-us-ties/28317270.html|title=Lavrov Says Russia Wants Military Cooperation With NATO, 'Pragmatic' U.S. Ties|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 February 2017|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=2021-06-11}}</ref> In late March 2017, the Council met in advance of a NATO Foreign Ministers conference in Brussels, Belgium.<ref>Barnes, Julian E., [https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-nato-diplomats-discuss-military-deployments-in-baltic-sea-region-1490893510 "Russian, NATO Diplomats Discuss Military Deployments in Baltic Sea Region"] {{subscription required}}, ''The Wall Street Journal'', 30 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.</ref>

After the subsequent [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the Founding Act has been considered by the NATO member states as definitively abrogated in its entirety by Russia, while the latter has been declared at the [[2022 NATO Madrid summit]] "a direct threat" to Euro-Atlantic security.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 June 2022 |title=NATO brands Russia the biggest 'direct threat' to Western security, as it eyes off 'serious challenges' posed by China |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-30/nato-spain-russia-china-security-threat-war-in-ukraine/101196134 |access-date=}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> In the same year, Russia withdrew from the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] and was expelled from the [[Council of Europe]].

=== Russian claims of unwritten assurances ===
The treaty does not mention NATO membership prospects of any other countries, as none of them has been a party to the treaty, while only four out of the fifteen NATO member states at the time have been parties to it.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Robert B. Zoellick |url=https://is.cuni.cz/studium/predmety/index.php?do=download&did=32105&kod=JMM352 |title=Two plus four: The lessons of German unification |journal=[[The National Interest]] |date=22 September 2000 |volume=61 |pages=17–28}}</ref> Some commentators, such as [[Stephen F. Cohen]],<ref>Cohen, Stephen F. (24 February 2005). [http://www.thenation.com/article/gorbachevs-lost-legacy "Gorbachev's Lost Legacy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810121504/https://www.thenation.com/article/gorbachevs-lost-legacy/ |date=2018-08-10  }}. ''[[The Nation]]''. Retrieved 1 October 2022.</ref> as well as [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in 2008,<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1933223/Gorbachev-US-could-start-new-Cold-War.html |title= Gorbachev: US could start new Cold War |work= [[The Daily Telegraph]] |first1= Adrian |last1= Blomfield |first2= Mike |last2= Smith |date= 6 May 2008 |access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> have advanced in later years the interpretation of a comment allegedly made by US Secretary of State, [[James Baker]], to the effect that NATO would expand "not one inch eastward" in a unified Germany, as applying instead to Eastern Europe;<ref name="George Washington University">{{cite web |date=9 February 1990 |title=Memorandum of conversation between Baker, Shevardnadze and Gorbachev |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/16116-document-05-memorandum-conversation-between |access-date=28 February 2022 |work=National Security Archive |publisher=George Washington University |id=Briefing Book 613}}</ref> neither has such a provision been included in the treaty, nor any of the parties has proposed or demanded its inclusion, and neither a recording nor written minutes of Baker's comment exist. In 2014, Gorbachev said that the assurance only pertained to East Germany, and that the resulting agreement was upheld by NATO.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Kellerhoff |first=Sven Felix|date=18 February 2022 |title=Archivfund: Was die Notiz über die Nato-Osterweiterung bedeutet |language=de |work=Die Welt|url=https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article237005361/Archivfund-Was-die-Notiz-ueber-die-Nato-Osterweiterung-bedeutet.html |access-date=31 May 2022}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|last=Kórshunov|first=Maxim|date=16 October 2014|title=Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against all walls|url=http://rbth.com/international/2014/10/16/mikhail_gorbachev_i_am_against_all_walls_40673.html |access-date=31 January 2022 |website=Russia Beyond}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Mike |last=Eckel |title=Did The West Promise Moscow That NATO Would Not Expand? Well, It's Complicated |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-expansion-russia-mislead/31263602.html |work=Radio Free Europe |date=19 May 2021|access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref> His main aide in these negotiations, [[Eduard Shevardnadze]], likewise agreed that NATO never made any such commitment regarding other countries in Eastern Europe, and that "the question never came up" in the talks on German reunification.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Kramer |first1=Mark |author-link=Mark Kramer |last2=Shifrinson |first2=Joshua R. Itzkowitz |author-link2=Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson |date=1 July 2017 |title=NATO Enlargement—Was There a Promise? |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/667395/pdf |journal=[[International Security (journal)|International Security]] |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=186–192 |doi=10.1162/isec_c_00287 |issn=0162-2889 |s2cid=57571871|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="TWQ">{{Cite journal |last=Kramer |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Kramer |date=1 April 2009 |title=The Myth of a No-NATO-Enlargement Pledge to Russia |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/journals/twq/v32i2/f_0016179_13953.pdf |journal=[[The Washington Quarterly]] |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=39–61 |doi=10.1080/01636600902773248 |issn=0163-660X |s2cid=154322506}}</ref> That is presumably because all of the countries in question were still in the [[Warsaw Pact]] at the time and hosted large Soviet garrisons.<ref>
{{cite web |author=Steven Pifer |author-link=Steven Pifer |date=6 November 2014 |title=Did NATO Promise Not to Enlarge? Gorbachev Says 'No' |url=https://www.brookings.edu/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/ |publisher=Brookings Institution}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Matlock |author-link=Jack F. Matlock Jr. |date=3 April 2014 |title=NATO Expansion: Was There A Promise? |url=http://jackmatlock.com/2014/04/nato-expansion-was-there-a-promise/ |website=JackMatlock.com}}
</ref> Gorbachev and his successor, [[Boris Yeltsin]], felt that NATO's later acceptance of countries like Poland violated the spirit of the earlier agreements.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wiegrefe |first=Klaus |date=15 February 2022 |title=NATO's Eastward Expansion: Is Vladimir Putin Right? |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nato-s-eastward-expansion-is-vladimir-putin-right-a-bf318d2c-7aeb-4b59-8d5f-1d8c94e1964d |access-date=23 April 2022 |issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kórshunov |first=Maxim |date=16 October 2014 |title=Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against all walls |url=https://www.rbth.com/international/2014/10/16/mikhail_gorbachev_i_am_against_all_walls_40673.html |access-date=7 February 2022 |work=[[Russia Beyond the Headlines]] |quote=The topic of 'NATO expansion' was not discussed at all, and it wasn't brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility. Not a single Eastern European country raised the issue, not even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. Western leaders didn't bring it up, either. Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO's military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces from the alliance would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker's statement, mentioned in your question, was made in that context. Kohl and [German Vice Chancellor Hans-Dietrich] Genscher talked about it. Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled. The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been observed all these years. So don't portray Gorbachev and the then-Soviet authorities as naïve people who were wrapped around the West's finger. If there was naïveté, it was later, when the issue arose. Russia at first did not object. The decision for the U.S. and its allies to expand NATO into the east was decisively made in 1993. I called this a big mistake from the very beginning. It was definitely a violation of the spirit of the statements and assurances made to us in 1990. With regards to Germany, they were legally enshrined and are being observed.}}</ref>

In December 2017, researchers Tom Blanton and Svetlana Savranskaya argued that declassified documents challenged this narrative.<ref name=NationalInterest2017 /> They commented:<ref name="Savranskaya Blanton">
{{cite web |last1=Savranskaya |first1=Svetlana |author-link1=Svetlana Savranskaya |last2=Blanton |first2=Tom |author-link2=Tom Blanton |title=NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early |publisher=[[George Washington University]] |work=[[National Security Archive]] |id=Briefing Book 613 |date=12 December 2017}}</ref>
{{blockquote |text=The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous [[Memorandum of conversation|memcons]] and [[telcon]]s at the highest levels.}}
They further said that,<ref name="Savranskaya Blanton" />
{{blockquote |text=the view of the State Department was that NATO expansion was not on the agenda, because it was not in the interest of the U.S. to organize 'an anti-Soviet coalition' that extended to the Soviet borders, not least because it might reverse the positive trends in the Soviet Union. (See Document 26) The Bush administration took the latter view. And that's what the Soviets heard.}}

In 2018, [[Hannes Adomeit]] disputed the conclusions by Blanton and Savranskaya, saying that those documents were already known, and that,<ref name="ado18">{{cite journal|last1=Adomeit|first1=Hannes|author-link1=Hannes Adomeit|title=NATO's Eastward Enlargement: What Western Leaders Said |journal=Security Policy Working Paper|publisher=[[Federal Academy for Security Policy]] |year=2018|issue=3|url=https://www.baks.bund.de/sites/baks010/files/working_paper_2018_03.pdf|issn=2366-0805|access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref> {{blockquote |text=it is inadmissible to conclude that assurances concerning the expansion of NATO command structures and the stationing of NATO forces on the territory of the former GDR had anything to do with promises concerning the enlargement of the Alliance east of a unified Germany.}}
Additionally, he stated that,<ref name="ado18" />
{{blockquote |text=a distinction must be drawn between informal or exploratory talks of this nature on the one hand and negotiations, promises, commitments or indeed guarantees on the other.}}
An analysis by [[Marc Trachtenberg]] in 2021 concluded that "the Russian allegations are by no means baseless ... But the Soviets were not deliberately misled."<ref name=Trachtenberg2021>{{Cite journal |first=Marc |last=Trachtenberg |author-link=Marc Trachtenberg |title=The United States and the NATO Non-extension Assurances of 1990: New Light on an Old Problem? |journal=[[International Security (journal)|International Security]] |volume=45 |number=3 |year=2021 |pages=162–203 |doi=10.1162/isec_a_00395 |s2cid=231694116 |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/cv/1990.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126134122/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/cv/1990.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 January 2021}}</ref><ref name=GareyReview>{{Cite web |first=Julie |last=Garey |title=Article Review 151 on 'The United States and the NATO Non-extension Assurances of 1990' |work=The International Security Studies Forum (ISSF) |date=11 November 2021 |url=https://issforum.org/articlereviews/151-nato |access-date=8 March 2022}}</ref> In her 2021 book ''Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of the Cold War Stalemate'', [[Mary Elise Sarotte]] balanced out these different interpretations, concluding that Russian claims of betrayal are in fact untrue in law but have psychological truth.<ref>
{{Cite news |first=Patrick |last=Wintour |title=Russia's belief in Nato 'betrayal' – and why it matters today |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 January 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/12/russias-belief-in-nato-betrayal-and-why-it-matters-today |access-date=26 March 2022}}
</ref>

On 18 February 2022, German magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' published an investigation of the [[British National Archives]] in which Joshua Shifrinson ([[Boston University]]) discovered a memo classified as "secret" dated 6 March 1991 (approximately five months after the 2+4 negotiations).<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Wiegrefe |first=Klaus |date=18 February 2022 |title=(S+) Nato-Osterweiterung: Aktenfund von 1991 stützt russische Version |language=de |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/nato-osterweiterung-aktenfund-stuetzt-russische-version-a-1613d467-bd72-4f02-8e16-2cd6d3285295 |access-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301103418/https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/nato-osterweiterung-aktenfund-stuetzt-russische-version-a-1613d467-bd72-4f02-8e16-2cd6d3285295 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Treaties with Russia contained no pledge NATO would not expand – German Foreign Ministry |url=https://tass.com/world/1407151 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301075426/https://tass.com/world/1407151 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |access-date=14 May 2022 |website=TASS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moynihan |first=Dr Robert |date=7 March 2022 |title=Letter #45, 2022, Mon, Mar 7: Viganò |url=https://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-45-2022-mon-mar-7-vigano/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308140649/https://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-45-2022-mon-mar-7-vigano/ |archive-date=8 March 2022 |access-date=14 May 2022 |website=Inside The Vatican}}</ref> The memo is about a meeting of the directors of the US, UK, French and West German foreign ministries in Bonn. According to the memo, [[Jürgen Chrobog]], the Western German representative,<ref name=":12" /> stated that "during the 2+4 negotiations we made it clear that we [Germany] would not expand NATO beyond the Elbe {{sic}}. We cannot therefore offer Poland and the others NATO membership."<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> Klaus Wiegrefe says that Chrobog may have confused the [[Elbe]] for the [[Oder]], to which NATO was supposed to extend upon German unification,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> that Bonn had never made it clear that NATO would not expand beyond the Elbe.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":12" />{{Efn|This is partly due to the fact that at the time the [[Warsaw Pact]] was still in existence and neighboring Poland was formally a part of it.}} According to {{lang|de|[[Die Welt]]}}, a German foreign minister at the time would never make a binding statement on behalf of NATO.<ref name=":3" />

Russian claims of the alleged 1990 assurances on a non-expansion of NATO to Gorbachev were again raised on the occasions of the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation]] in 2014 and the [[2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis]], during which the Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] demanded a legal ban on [[Ukraine]] joining NATO, which both Ukraine and NATO refused, and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The invocation of this alleged non-expansion pledge was cited by Russia to disregard the [[Budapest Memorandum]] but has been rebuffed by NATO.<ref>{{cite web |author1=NATO |author-link1=NATO |title=Russia's accusations – setting the record straight, Fact Sheet – April 2014 |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_109141.htm |date=12 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=NATO Review |author=Michael Rühle |title=NATO enlargement and Russia: myths and realities |date=2014 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207164959/https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2014/07/01/nato-enlargement-and-russia-myths-and-realities/index.html |publisher=[[NATO]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Territorial evolution of Germany}}
* [[Allied Control Council]]
* [[Berlin Declaration (1945)|Berlin Declaration]]
* [[Basic Treaty (1972)|Basic Treaty]]
* [[Bonn–Paris conventions]]
* [[Controversy in Russia regarding the legitimacy of eastward NATO expansion]]
* [[Council of Foreign Ministers]]
* [[Four Power Agreement on Berlin]]
* [[Germany Treaty]]
* [[London and Paris Conferences]]
* [[Occupation statute]]
* [[Petersberg Agreement]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Trachtenberg |first=Marc |date=January 2021 |title=The United States and the NATO Non-extension Assurances of 1990: New Light on an Old Problem? |journal=[[International Security (journal)|International Security]] |language=en |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=162–203 |doi=10.1162/isec_a_00395 |issn=0162-2889}} and [https://issforum.org/to/iar151 online commentary on H-DIPLO 2021]
* {{Cite book |last=Sarotte |first=M. E. |title=Not one inch: America, Russia, and the making of post-Cold War stalemate |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-25993-3 |series=The Henry L. Stimson lectures series |location=New Haven}}

{{commons category|Zwei-Plus-Vier-Vertrag}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20220116001812/http://foto.archivalware.co.uk/data/Library2/pdf/1991-TS0088.pdf Full text in English] (PDF format; Published by [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] on the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] website)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050222182358/https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/2plusfour8994e.htm Full text in English] (HTML format; Published by U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany)

{{World War II}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty On The Final Settlement With Respect To Germany}}
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:Allied occupation of Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in France]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in West Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in Moscow]]
[[Category:1990 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1990 in the United States]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:France–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Germany–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Germany–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Germany–United States relations]]
[[Category:France–Germany relations]]
[[Category:Boundary treaties]]
[[Category:Arms control treaties|Germany]]
[[Category:Treaties of East Germany]]
[[Category:Borders of Germany]]
[[Category:German reunification]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1990]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1991]]
[[Category:Treaties of France]]
[[Category:Treaties of West Germany]]
[[Category:World War II treaties]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]
[[Category:United Kingdom in World War II]]