Declassified docs show Clinton was ready to consider Russian NATO membership

The statements were made during a meeting between the two leaders in the Kremlin on June 4, 2000, according to White House minutes published on Thursday by the National Security Archive, an independent research institute at George Washington University.

“From the outset of the NATO enlargement process, I knew that it could be a problem for Russia. I was sensitive to this, and I want it understood that NATO enlargement does not threaten Russia in any way,” Clinton is quoted as saying.

“I am serious about being ready to discuss NATO membership with Russia.”

He added that he understood that “domestic considerations inside Russia” prevent this, but over time the country “should be a part of every organization that holds the civilized world together.”

According to the documents, Putin said he “supported” the idea.

Last year, in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Putin said he had brought up the subject with Clinton. While Clinton agreed at first, he later dismissed the idea after talking to his team, the Russian leader said.

Had Clinton agreed, it would have led to a new period of “rapprochement” between Moscow and the military bloc, Putin added.

NATO has expanded six times since the two leaders’ conversation in 2000, adding 12 more countries during this time.

After “wave after wave of expansion… we were constantly told: ‘You shouldn’t fear this, it poses no threat to you’,” Putin said in June, adding that “they simply dismissed our concerns, refusing to acknowledge or even consider our position.”

“We know better than anyone what threatens us and what does not,” he said.

Moscow has cited Kiev’s ambition to join NATO as one of the core causes of the current conflict, which it views as a proxy war being orchestrated by the military bloc against Russia.