gorbachev expressed agreement with a unified germany inside of nato in may 1990.
when did gorbachev express agreement with a unified germany inside of nato?
may 1990
in january 1990, gorbachev privately agreed to permit east german reunification with west germany, but rejected the idea that a unified germany could retain west germany's nato membership. his compromise that germany might retain both nato and warsaw pact memberships did not attract support. in may 1990, he visited the u.s. for talks with bush; there, he agreed that an independent germany would have the right to choose its international alliances. he later revealed that he had agreed to do so because u.s. secretary of state james baker promised that nato troops would not be posted to eastern germany and that the military alliance would not expand into eastern europe. privately, bush ignored baker's assurances and later pushed for nato expansion. on the trip, the u.s. informed gorbachev of its evidence that the soviet military—possibly unbeknownst to gorbachev—had been pursuing a biological weapons program in contravention of the 1987 biological weapons convention. in july, kohl visited moscow and gorbachev informed him that the soviets would not oppose a reunified germany being part of nato. domestically, gorbachev's critics accused him of betraying the national interest; more broadly, they were angry that gorbachev had allowed the eastern bloc to move away from direct soviet influence.
mikhail gorbachev
by mid-1989, as unrest blanketed eastern europe, bush requested a meeting with gorbachev, and the two agreed to hold the december 1989 malta summit. after the malta summit, bush sought cooperative relations with gorbachev throughout the remainder of his term, believing that the soviet leader was the key to peacefully ending the soviet domination of eastern europe. the key issue at the malta summit was the potential reunification of germany. while britain and france were wary of a re-unified germany, bush pushed for german reunification alongside west german chancellor helmut kohl. gorbachev also resisted the idea of a reunified germany, especially if it became part of nato, but the upheavals of the previous year had sapped his power at home and abroad. gorbachev agreed to hold "two-plus-four" talks among the u.s., the soviet union, france, britain, west germany, and east germany, which commenced in 1990. after extensive negotiations, gorbachev eventually agreed to allow a reunified germany to be a part of nato. with the signing of the treaty on the final settlement with respect to germany, germany officially reunified in october 1990.
presidency of george h. w. bush