Viacheslav Molotov, the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, agreed after hasty negotiations to conclude an economic treaty and a non-aggression pact that would partition Eastern Europe into Soviet and German spheres of influence.
Ribbentrop signed the non-aggression pact during a visit to Moscow on August 23, 1939. The sides undertook neither to attack each other, nor to help any third party do the same. They agreed to settle bilateral disputes cordially. The treaty was to be in effect for 10 years.
A secret appendix to the agreement discussed the apportionment of spheres of influence and the future locations of borders. The agreement and its appendix were signed a week before the German invasion of Poland. After the invasion, Germany and the USSR carved Poland into separate spheres as stipulated in the agreement.
