The Nazi-Soviet Pact (signed in August of 1939) is easily the most recognizable agreement between Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany. I suppose that’s something of a surprise, since Adolf Hitler despised Russia’s Bolshevism and Joseph Stalin despised Germany’s National Socialism (and was paranoid of nearly everything and everyone else). And it was that distrust that really made the Pact possible, as it was a way to create something of a buffer zone between the two (albeit at Poland’s expense).
But this certainly wasn’t the only agreement between the two countries. Just days before the Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed, Russia and Germany signed an economic agreement. The Russians would send food, raw materials, and oil to Germany in exchange for money and equipment. In February of 1940, the economic agreement was expanded and became more militaristic in nature, as Germany promised to send blueprints for some of its military assets to Russia, receiving more raw materials (particularly oil) in return.
There were also secret agreements. There was the secret addendum to the Nazi-Soviet Pact, in which Germany gave Russia a free hand to do what it wanted with Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. And then there was the secret protocol of January 10, 1941. Signed by Vyacheslav Molotov (the Russian Foreign Minister) and Count von der Schulenburg (the German ambassador), this had nothing to do with economics, but returned once again to territory.
The “Sulwalki Strip” was a 25-mile by 50-mile strip of Lithuanian territory that was controlled by Germany. The German government agreed to relinquish control of the area. In return, the Russians agreed to give Germany 31.5 million Reichsmarks…sort of. One-eighth of the money (3,937,500 Reichsmarks) would be delivered as raw materials, to be paid within 3 months. The remaining seven-eighths (~27,500,000 Reichsmarks) were actually reductions in the payments that Germany was making to Russia as part of the expanded 1940 Economic Agreement.
So Germany gave up a little piece of land and, in return, got more raw materials from Russia. It also kept a sizeable chunk of change in its own coffers, money which would come in handy when they invaded Russia just six months down the road.
Recommended Reading: The Eastern Front – Day By Day, 1941-45