Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances, to which they were a party, were given to (1) Mikhail Gorbachev, or (2) other representatives of the government of the Soviet Union, on NATO expansion into Eastern Europe at the time of German reunification; whether any such assurances remain valid; and what assessment they have made of whether those assurances are being met.

During the 1990 discussions on German reunification, no written assurances about the further enlargement of NATO beyond Germany were made to Mr Gorbachev or other representatives of the Government of the Soviet Union. Despite consistent assertion, Russian leaders have been unable to produce any written evidence that such assurances were made.