WASHINGTON, August 22. /TASS/. Former US President Bill Clinton told Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2000 that NATO expansion will not threaten Moscow and promised to consider Russia joining the alliance, declassified documents released by the National Security Archive public research organization at the George Washington Metropolitan University show.

"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 in the minutes of his conversation with Putin in the Kremlin on June 4, 2000. The document, as specified, was prepared by the White House.

"I am serious about being ready to discuss NATO membership with Russia," the 42nd President of the United States said. "I recognize that domestic considerations inside Russia will prevent this for now, but over time Russia should be a part of every organization that holds the civilized world together. If our successors focus on each other as the main threats they have to worry about, they will be missing the opportunity to deal cooperatively on other problems.

"I understand that, for many Russians, NATO still has a negative connotation. However, I hope that you will see that Central European states do not feel threatened by Russia. We want to be helpful. In particular, we should try to agree now about what the world will look like in the next ten years or so. I am serious in making this suggestion."

Clinton added that he was pleased with the resumption of cooperation between Russia and NATO, and said that it had fully returned to normal.

The conversation between Putin and Clinton in the Kremlin

In February 2024, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin said that Russia could have become a NATO member, if the United States had expressed a sincere desire in the early 2000s.

Putin recalled his meeting with Clinton in 2000 in the Kremlin. "I asked him: 'Listen, Bill, what do you think, if Russia raised the issue of joining NATO, do you think it would be possible?' he suddenly said: ‘You know, it's interesting, I think so.’ And in the evening, when we met at dinner, he says: ‘You know, I’ve talked to my people, with my team - no, it's impossible now.’’

"If he had said ‘Yes’, the process of rapprochement would have begun, and eventually it (Russia's accession to NATO - TASS) could have taken place if we had seen a sincere desire of our partners to do this," the Russian leader said.

He offered to confirm this conversation with Clinton.

"I would never say anything like that if it didn't happen," Putin said.