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US secretly considered Ukraine’s NATO membership in 1994 — archives

The document from October 1994 noted that the possibility of Ukraine or Baltic countries’ membership in NATO must be maintained, without letting them end up in the gray area or Russia’s zone of influence

WASHINGTON, July 10. /TASS/. The US government was clandestinely working on Ukraine’s accession to NATO in 1994, according to declassified documents published by the National Security Archive to mark the NATO 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington.

According to a policy paper on NATO expansion by Anthony Lake who was a national security adviser in the Clinton administration, Washington was hoping to create an "integrated and inclusive security system for Europe" which would include NATO expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.

The document from October 1994 noted that the possibility of Ukraine or Baltic countries’ membership in NATO must be maintained, without letting them end up in the gray area or Russia’s zone of influence. According to the document, the so-called policy of neo-containment of Russia should not be voiced publicly. That said, it is noted that "the possibility of membership in the long term for a democratic Russia should not be ruled out explicitly."

According to a note to Lake sent in December 1994, the staff of the White House National Security Council noted that Ukraine’s potential NATO membership should not be mentioned publicly as it is a sensitive subject for Russia.

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