Nikita Khrushchev kept Springer and Zehrer waiting sixteen days for an interview. It did not go well, and cannot have been helped by Springer seeking to convince the Soviet premier of the advantages not only of German neutrality but also of West Germany's social market economy. The Russians, like the Americans, viewed their strategic position in Germany as indispensable. Neutrality was not option. Springer was to describe the trip as the "central political event of my life", convincing him that there was no alternative to Konrad Adenauer's "Westbindung": to discount Communist overtures and to persevere with the North Atlantic alliance. On his return he forbad any criticism of the western allies, whether it was of the British in Cyprus, the French in Algeria, or the Americans in the Taiwan Strait, because "we need them in Berlin".