Deutsche Frage
Khrushchev believed that the correct settlement of the German question was essential to the maintenance of peace and national security. In order to achieve German reunification, the Soviet Union supported the democratic circles of Germany government of the German Democratic Republic to form a federation. The Soviet Union was preparing to withdraw not only from Germany, but also from Poland and Hungary, where it had entered under the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union supported the plans of the People's Republic of Poland to establish an "atomic-free zone" in Europe and reduce conventional weapons in the area.