Treaty of Moscow (1970)

The Treaty of Moscow, was signed on August 12, 1970 between the USSR and West Germany (FRG). It was signed by Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel from the FRG side and by Alexei Kosygin and Andrei Gromyko from the USSR side.

Description
During the 1970s while Willy Brandt was Chancellor of the FRG, the country followed a foreign relations policy of Ostpolitik. It "abandoned, at least for the time being, its claims with respect to German self-determination and reunification, recognising de facto the existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Oder-Neisse Line." The Treaty of Moscow was the first of several friendship treaties between the FRG and the GDR.

Both sides expressed their ambition to strive for a normalization of the relations between the European states while keeping international peace and to follow the guidelines of the article no.2 of the UN Charter.

The signees renounced the use of force, and recognised the post-World War II borders — specifically the Oder-Neisse Line which hived off a large portion of historical eastern Germany to Poland and the USSR.

It also enshrined the division between East and West Germany, thus contributing a valuable element of stability into the relationship between the two countries.