The incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear, even before he was first inaugurated President of Russia succeeding Boris Yeltsin on May 7, 2000, that he did not rule out the possibility that Russia would join NATO. Yesterday’s National Security Archives documents release regarding discussions of this matter that occurred between President Bill Clinton and President Vladimir Putin should not, therefore, be construed to mean more than they imply. It was the Clinton Administration that expanded NATO into Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic in 1999, despite 1991 promises—never, unfortunately, captured in treaty form—that NATO “would not move one inch eastward.”
Note that an “AI Overview” answer to the question, “Did Vladimir Putin ever propose that it was possible Russia join NATO?” yields the answer, “No. Vladimir Putin never proposed that it was possible for Russia to join NATO.” This is, in fact, completely misleading—"not the whole truth.”
Compare AI’s answer with the following passage from a November 4, 2021 article “Ex-NATO Head Says Putin Wanted To Join Alliance Early on in his Rule” that appeared in London’s The Guardian: “George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led NATO between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe….
