From July 14 to July 16, 1990, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and Minister of Finance Theodor Waigel were on a working visit to the Soviet Union. The purpose of the trip was to discuss the terms of German reunification with the Soviet premier. With regard to foreign policy, the meeting was a breakthrough in the reunification negotiations. In return for considerable payments and economic support, Gorbachev raised no objections to a united Germany belonging to NATO; he also guaranteed Germany’s complete sovereignty after the “Two-Plus-Four” negotiations and promised to withdraw Soviet troops. The Cold War was drawing to a close, and the way was being paved for the reunification of the nation it had once divided. This photo shows (from left to right): Genscher, Gorbachev, Waigel (standing behind Gorbachev), and Kohl.