remedy some of the conflict between the U.S. and the USSR. Khrushchev and Kennedy met in Vienna on June 4, 1961. Discussions Khrushchev and Kennedy devoted a significant amount of time at the Vienna Summit to discussing the Berlin Crisis. Khrushchev opened the conversation by expressing the Soviet perspective that a united Germany "[constituted] a threat of World War III." He pointed to the fact that Germany began World War II. Only 15 years after the end of that war, Germany again posed a "military threat" as a member of NATO. Khrushchev explained that the USSR desired to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany. Such a treaty, he argued, "would not prejudice the interests of the U.S., the UK, or France." He told Kennedy that if the United States failed to support a peace treaty, the Soviet Union would sign the peace treaty unilaterally. Kennedy replied that American forces occupied Berlin "by contractual rights" rather than by the agreement of East Germans. Kennedy understood the Soviet perspective but feared that if the U.S. removed its troops from Berlin, "no one would have any confidence in U.S. commitments and pledges." Kennedy insisted that the U.S. maintain its position in Berlin for strategic purposes. Although Kennedy argued that the current balance of power in Germany was effective, Khrushchev said that "no force in the world would prevent the USSR from signing a peace treaty." When Kennedy pointed out that such a treaty required unilateral action on the part of the Soviet Union, thereby ignoring the four-power agreement signed at the end of World War II, Khrushchev stated that such a peace treaty nullified the four-power agreement. He insisted that the city of Berlin should belong solely to the German Democratic Republic. West Germany, Khrushchev told Kennedy, would remain under American influence. Kennedy countered by saying that the U.S. could not accept such an agreement owing to the prestige it would lose as a result of the decision. In light of this remark, Khrushchev suggested that an "interim arrangement" be considered. Khrushchev remained firm in the fact that "the Soviet Union [would] sign [the peace treaty] in December if the U.S. [refused] an interim agreement." Kennedy hoped to determine the Soviets' feeling regarding the neutralization of Laos. Kennedy wanted to convince Khrushchev that the United States and Soviet Union could work together to de-escalate tensions in the unstable state. "Without a