February 28, 2022
2 mins read

Russia’s historical grievance towards West triggered invasion of Ukraine

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrote to US President Bill Clinton saying any further NATO footprint eastward would breach the spirit of the 1990 treaty…reports Ashish Ray

The historical reason for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is his firm belief that the West, particularly the western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the United States, violated the spirit of a 1990 treaty with Russia, and thereby betrayed it.

Putin, addressing the Munich Security Conference in February 2007, said: “One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way…. We’re witnessing the untrammelled use of the military in international affairs.” He was referring to NATO’s post-Cold War expansion into former Warsaw Pact countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia (now split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia), which used to be under the Soviet Union’s wings before the collapse of communism in 1989-90.

A recent book by historian Mary Elise Sarotte, “Not One Inch: America, Russia and the Making of the Cold War Stalemate”, catalogues private dialogue between Moscow and the West. The writer concludes that on paper NATO forces were not prevented from expanding to Eastern Europe to the borders of Russia, but that this was a recipe for conflict. In fact, Russian drafts of treaties to reverse NATO’s extension eastwards were placed on the table as recently as last month at a NATO-Russia Council meeting.

Putin claims then US President George H.W. Bush’s secretary of state James Baker on February 9, 1990 promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not move to Warsaw Pact countries if Russia accepted East and West Germany’s reunification. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl apparent went a step further by indicating to Gorbachev that NATO could not even spread to ‘the GDR’ (German Democratic Republic or East Germany). On May 17 of the same year, NATO Secretary General Manfred Worner echoed this pledge. The British Guardian newspaper wrote: “In his memoirs, Gorbachev described these assurances as the moment that cleared the way for compromise on Germany (being reunited).”

But the promises were never converted into a formal, written pact. However, the final signed agreement in September 1990 on reunifying Germany contained an addendum which permitted non-German NATO troops stationed in West Germany to cover East Germany (hitherto east of the ‘Iron Curtain’) as well.

The Guardian illustrates that in March 1991 British Prime Minister John Major was asked by the Russian Defence Minister Marshall Dmitry Yazov about Eastern Europe’s interest in seeking NATO membership. “Major, according to the diaries of the British Ambassador to Moscow, Rodric Braithwaite, assured him ‘nothing of that sort will ever happen’,” the paper cites.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrote to US President Bill Clinton saying any further NATO footprint eastward would breach the spirit of the 1990 treaty. Thereafter, in 1997 at the juncture of the NATO-Russia treaty to forge an alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov once more flagged Baker’s alleged duality.

Meanwhile, however, Yeltsin in August 1993 conceded to the Polish leader Lech Walesa Poland’s right to join NATO. At that point Russia foresaw potentially becoming a member of NATO. The US was opposed to this, but seemingly kept Russia in suspense.

ALSO READ-Ukraine to send delegation for talks

Previous Story

Russia’s N-alert a distraction, says Boris

Next Story

EU to ban Russian flights over Europe over Ukraine crisis

Latest from -Top News

Dhaka’s Ruling Party Rejects Kolkata Link

Slamming the Yunus administration, the Awami League alleged that “the illegal usurper government is actively spreading these baseless rumours….reports Asian Lite News Bangladesh’s Awami League has rejected media reports that it opened

1.5M Afghans Forced Back in 2025

UN warned that these women and girls face significant threats upon their return to Afghanistan, including poverty, early marriage, violence, and unprecedented restrictions. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that

How BRICS Break the West’s Grip

Harvansh Chawla pointed to the Ruble-Rupee trade arrangement between the two nations, saying it has streamlined transactions and lessened reliance on Western financial systems. The BRICS bloc is proving crucial in enabling

Greece may extend North Africa asylum ban

In July, the government stopped processing asylum requests from migrants arriving from North Africa by sea for three months in an effort to curb arrivals from Libya to Crete Plevris said he

EU Demands Seat in US–Russia Ceasefire Talks

Kallas revealed that she would convene an online meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday to discuss “our next steps EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said any US–Russia agreement must involve
Go toTop

Don't Miss

‘Europe nears war’

Ukraine is calling for a meeting with Russia and other

Trump vows Kyiv’s role in peace talks   

Russia’s financial markets soared and the price of Ukraine’s debt