DISINFO: Archived secret documents prove that NATO promised not to expand
SUMMARY
A number of long-secret documents reveal that Moscow has been promised that the military bloc will not accept any more states. Not just documents, but a series of Western leaders at the time, including Secretary of State James Baker, President George H.W. Bush, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, CIA Director Robert Gates, French President Francois Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and then NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner, gave various assurances to the Soviets to this effect as they withdrew their troops from Western Europe and agreed to reunify Germany.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO enlargement.
This claim has been debunked numerous times. NATO did not make any promises not to expand into eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said, “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility”.
Furthermore, the claim about NATO "expansion" misrepresents the process of NATO enlargement. NATO does not "expand" but considers the applications of candidate countries that want to join. NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states.
See also related disinformation claims: NATO forgot promises not to enlarge to the East, The West promised that NATO will not move eastward, It was agreed that NATO would never accept countries that border Russia, The US and Russia had an agreement that NATO wouldn't be enlarged.
For more debunks of pro-Kremlin myths about Ukraine see here.