Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Bill Clinton. Archive photoMOSCOW, 9 Apr. Former US President Bill Clinton said in an op-ed for the Atlantic that he offered his Russian counterparts Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin the possibility of Moscow joining NATO. The politician pointed to the development of ties between the alliance and Russia in the 1990s, noting the participation Moscow in the Partnership for Peace program, the conclusion of the Russia-NATO Founding Act, US funding for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic states, as well as joint participation in some peacekeeping operations. «All this time we kept NATO's doors open for Russia to join, about which I made clear to Yeltsin and then to his successor Vladimir Putin,» Clinton said. The former head of state also called false claims that the United States «ignored, disrespected and tried to isolate Russia,» but acknowledged that NATO expanded to the east despite the objections of Moscow. He called this policy of the alliance «correct.» In 2000, he asked how the United States would react to the possible admission of Moscow to NATO. According to the Russian leader, the reaction to his question «outwardly looked very restrained.» At the same time, Putin pointed out that the real position of the United States on such a possibility can be seen from their actual unfriendly steps towards Moscow, such as open support for terrorists in the North Caucasus, disdain for Russia's security requirements and concerns in NATO expansion, withdrawal from the ABM Treaty Read the full text of the article on the InoSMI website >>
Putin explained why a war between Russia and NATO may begin
