James A. Baker III’s Words on NATO Loom in Ukraine Standoff

WASHINGTON — When officials from Russia and the United States beryllium down successful Geneva connected Monday for high-profile discussions with different warfare successful Europe connected the line, hovering implicit the talks volition beryllium an American diplomat who volition not adjacent beryllium successful the room.

Nearly 30 years aft James A. Baker III stepped down arsenic caput of state, the existent confrontation implicit Ukraine turns successful portion connected a long-running statement astir what, if any, commitments helium made to Moscow successful the waning days of the Cold War and whether the United States fulfilled them.

President Vladimir V. Putin and different Russian officials person asserted that Mr. Baker ruled retired NATO enlargement into Eastern Europe erstwhile helium served arsenic President George H.W. Bush’s apical diplomat. The West’s nonaccomplishment to unrecorded up to that agreement, successful this argument, is the existent origin of the situation present gripping Europe arsenic Mr. Putin demands that NATO forswear rank for Ukraine arsenic the terms of calling disconnected a imaginable invasion.

But the grounds suggests this is simply a selective relationship of what truly happened, utilized to warrant Russian aggression for years. While determination was so treatment betwixt Mr. Baker and the Soviet person Mikhail S. Gorbachev successful the months aft the autumn of the Berlin Wall astir limiting NATO jurisdiction if East and West Germany were reunited, nary specified proviso was included successful the last pact signed by the Americans, Europeans and Russians.

“The bottommost enactment is, that’s a ridiculous argument,” Mr. Baker said successful an interrogation successful 2014, a fewer months aft Russia seized Crimea and intervened successful eastbound Ukraine. “It is existent that successful the archetypal stages of negotiations I said ‘what if’ and past Gorbachev himself supported a solution that extended the borderline that included the German Democratic Republic,” oregon East Germany, wrong NATO. Since the Russians signed that treaty, helium asked, however tin they trust “on thing I said a period oregon truthful before? It conscionable doesn’t marque sense.”

In fact, portion Mr. Putin accuses the United States of breaking an statement it ne'er made, Russia has violated an statement it really did marque with respect to Ukraine. In 1994, aft the Soviet Union broke apart, Russia signed an accord on with the United States and Britain called the Budapest Memorandum, successful which the recently autarkic Ukraine gave up 1,900 atomic warheads successful speech for a committedness from Moscow “to respect the independency and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “to refrain from the menace oregon usage of force” against the country.

Russia trampled Ukrainian sovereignty erstwhile it annexed Crimea and sponsored proxy forces to wage warfare against the Kyiv authorities successful eastbound Ukraine. And it is erstwhile again threatening the usage of unit by assembling 100,000 Russian troops on its borderline to extract guarantees that Ukraine volition ne'er beryllium allowed to articulation NATO.

The quality traces backmost to the last years of the Cold War, erstwhile East and West were negotiating the model of what Mr. Bush would telephone the caller satellite order. The autumn of the Berlin Wall connected Nov. 9, 1989, led to negotiations implicit unifying the 2 Germanys formed aft World War II.

He was talking astir whether NATO troops would beryllium stationed successful territory past constituting East Germany, not whether different countries would yet beryllium considered for rank successful the alliance. Nonetheless, Mr. Baker picked up connected Mr. Genscher’s formulation during a Feb. 9 sojourn to Moscow.

As an inducement for agreeing to German unification, Mr. Baker offered what helium called “ironclad guarantees that NATO’s jurisdiction oregon forces would not determination eastward,” according to a declassified memorandum signaling the discussion.

“There would beryllium nary hold of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO 1 inch to the east,” Mr. Baker told Mr. Gorbachev, coming backmost to the look 3 times during the conversation.

Back successful Washington, the National Security Council unit was alarmed. The connection “jurisdiction” could connote that the NATO doctrine of corporate defence would use lone to portion of German territory, limiting German sovereignty. It was 1 happening to hold not to determination troops into the East close away, arsenic acold arsenic American officials were concerned, but each of Germany had to beryllium portion of NATO.

“The N.S.C. got to him beauteous rapidly and said that connection mightiness beryllium misinterpreted,” Condoleezza Rice, past a Soviet advisor to Mr. Bush and aboriginal caput of authorities nether President George W. Bush, remembered successful an interrogation for a biography of Mr. Baker.

Mr. Baker got the connection and began walking backmost his words by ditching the word “jurisdiction” from each aboriginal discussions. Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany likewise rejected Mr. Genscher’s formulation.

“I whitethorn person been a small spot guardant connected my skis connected that, but they changed it and helium knew that they changed it,” Mr. Baker recalled of Mr. Gorbachev. “He ne'er erstwhile again successful each the months that followed ever raised the question of NATO expanding its jurisdiction eastward. He past signed documents successful which NATO did grow its jurisdiction.”

Understand the Escalating Tensions Over Ukraine

When Mr. Baker returned to Moscow successful May, helium offered what were called the 9 reassurances, including a committedness to let Soviet troops successful East Germany to stay for a modulation play and not widen NATO forces into that territory until they left. This was hardly a committedness not to widen the confederation east, but helium insisted to the Soviets that this was the champion the United States could do.

Mr. Gorbachev yet agreed. The last pact unifying Germany aboriginal successful 1990 barred overseas troops from the aged East Germany, but German troops assigned to NATO could beryllium deployed determination erstwhile Soviet forces withdrew by the extremity of 1994. Nothing successful the pact addressed NATO enlargement beyond that.

“Now remember, it’s not wide the Soviet Union is going to illness astatine this point,” Dr. Rice recalled. “It’s not adjacent wide that the Warsaw Pact is going to collapse. This is astir the unification of Germany.” She added, “The enlargement of NATO was conscionable not connected the array arsenic an contented successful ’90-’91.”

No little a witnesser agreed than Mr. Gorbachev. “The taxable of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed astatine all, and it wasn’t brought up successful those years,” he told an interviewer aft Russia’s involution successful Ukraine 7 years ago. The contented was overseas troops successful eastbound Germany. “Baker’s statement” astir not 1 inch “was made successful that context,” Mr. Gorbachev said. “Everything that could person been and needed to beryllium done to solidify that governmental work was done. And fulfilled.”

Having said that, Mr. Gorbachev agreed that NATO enlargement was unnecessarily provocative. “It was decidedly a usurpation of the tone of the statements and assurances made to america successful 1990,” helium said.

As it happens, 1 of those who suggested a antithetic attack was Mr. Baker. In 1993, arsenic NATO was contemplating admitting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, helium projected successful an op-ed successful The Los Angeles Times that the confederation see different imaginable member: Russia itself.

The thought would beryllium to unit antiauthoritarian alteration earlier it could join, portion making wide that Russia was not an enemy. “For our relations with Russia, it tin some promote betterment and hedge our bets against a instrumentality to authoritarianism and expansionism,” Mr. Baker wrote. That evidently ne'er happened.