Not really. A lot of discussions regarding NATO expansion were held in 1990 and 1991, the year you have quoted Max. There are a lot of documents on the subject, and the statement bellow simply proves the fact that the Soviets and the Russian Federation simply trusted the West too much. That was their weakness. What a lie that was. The one, the whole world is facing the consequences of today.
Ambassador Braithwaite also quotes Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd as telling Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh on March 26, 1991, “there are no plans in NATO to include the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in NATO in one form or another.”[18]
The record, from 1991, quotes a German official as telling British and American policymakers, "We had made it clear during the 2+4 negotiations that we would not extend NATO beyond the Elbe (a river in Germany). We could not therefore offer membership of NATO to Poland and the others."
