NATO starts biggest ever drill in Poland amid security fears

[Xolodno]

34. It was never a treaty.

But rather a verbal assurance given to then Secretary General to Mikail Gorbachev. It could never be a treaty due to:

1. It would have made Gorbachev look weak at home and could have consequences, turns out it may have, when Gorbachev was removed briefly during a coup.

2. This is NATO and members of NATO would have to agree and sign the treaty and plenty of them did not want to look like they were abandoning eastern Europe.

Plus, the idea even half of Warsaw Pact nations joining NATO, much less former Soviet Republics which were dominated for centuries under the Tsar and recognized as being part of Russia, was unthinkable. But GWB aggressively pushed NATO expansion despite "friendly" relations with Putin. To note, Putin's first term was to get Russia on solid economic footing and increase relations with the rest of Europe. His military investment really didn't happen ironically until GWB started having NATO actively recruit eastward.

However, there was a verbal assurance. But with that said, there is a strong media, propaganda, internet scrub, etc. to say it never happened and there was no assurance given despite being well and openly known.

Which should come as no surprise as we reneged SALT II and one of the START treaties. We even balked at banning all nuclear weapons when Gorbachev offered to do so.