U.S. releases meeting records between Putin and Clinton on inviting Russia to join NATO

The U.S. public research institution "National Security Archive," affiliated with the University of Washington, has released U.S. government documents containing transcripts of meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000.

"From the beginning of the NATO expansion process, I have been aware that this could bring problems to Russia. I take this issue seriously, and I hope everyone is clear that NATO expansion will not pose a threat to Russia," said Clinton in the transcript of his meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on June 4, 2000. According to TASS, this meeting record was compiled by White House staff.

The president stated, "(He) took the discussion of Russia joining NATO seriously and was willing to move forward." He said, "Some considerations within Russia currently do not allow for this to happen." However, in his view, Russia should eventually become a member of "all organizations that maintain the unity of the civilized world."

Clinton also expressed satisfaction with the resumption of cooperation between Russia and NATO, stating that this cooperation "has completely returned to the normal track." He added that the United States is prepared to assist Central European countries and supports dialogue on security issues. Clinton opposed the idea of Russia and the United States "seeing each other as the main threats and confronting each other," because in such a case, "the two countries would miss the opportunity to jointly address other issues."

As reported by "Gazeta Ochakovsky," Clinton had stated that during his tenure as head of state, he not only proposed a special partnership with Boris Yeltsin but also outlined the possibility of Russia joining NATO. Putin pointed out that the "actual actions" taken by the United States toward Moscow showed the "real attitude of Americans toward this possibility."

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