German-Soviet contacts became ever closer in June and moved quickly from narrowly economic issues to broader strategic concerns. In early July the German ambassador met with Foreign Minister Molotov for the first time.120 By August, negotiations were progressing quickly. The framework for a credit and trade deal was agreed on 19 August. In the early hours of 24 August 1939, Hitler’s Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, which included secret provisions for the division of Eastern Europe into separate spheres of influence. Poland was to be partitioned.
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