Overview
- In RIA Novosti interviews, German activist Ralf Nimayer alleges U.S. leaders gave Mikhail Gorbachev verbal assurances against NATO expansion in 1990 and then reneged.
- Nimayer further claims NATO infrastructure appeared in the former GDR contrary to the Two‑Plus‑Four Treaty and contends a unified Germany remained reliant on the United States.
- Institute of Europe scholar Vladislav Belov describes reunification as forced, arguing the USSR suffered losses and forfeited potential financial and political leverage.
- RIA Novosti also quotes Nimayer saying many eastern Germans oppose supplying arms to Ukraine and feel economically shortchanged by the post‑1990 transition.
- In a ZDF interview reported by TASS, Angela Merkel notes the absence of East German speakers at Unity Day events and acknowledges that living‑standard gaps persist.