US transcripts from 2001 show Putin asked Bush about Russia joining NATO

The United States has released several transcripts of talks between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and then US president George W Bush in which Putin raised the idea of Russia being admitted to NATO.

Source: European Pravda; transcripts released by the National Security Archive, an independent non-profit research institute and library at George Washington University

Details: The National Security Archive secured the transcript after winning a court battle for its release.

In the transcript of a conversation on 16 June 2001, Putin recalled that the Soviet Union once sought to join NATO and asked whether this might be possible now that the reasons given for refusing the request in the past were no longer relevant.

Quote from Putin: "You have made an important statement when you said that Russia is no enemy. What you said about 50 years in the future is important. [Earlier in the conversation, Bush said that China could become a threat over that timeframe – ed.] Russia is European and multi-ethnic, like the United States. I can imagine us becoming allies. Only dire need could make us allied with others. But we feel left out of NATO."

More details: He also recalled that the Soviet Union had submitted an application to NATO in 1954 and was turned down.

Quote from Putin: "NATO gave a negative answer with four specific reasons: the lack of an Austrian settlement, the lack of a German settlement, the totalitarian grip on Eastern Europe, and the need for Russia to cooperate with the UN Disarmament process. Now all these conditions have been met. Perhaps Russia could be an Ally."

More details: The transcript does not record a response to those remarks, with Bush moving on to another topic.

Putin also said during the conversation that he had "never considered you [the United States] a threat", even during the Cold War.

Background:

• In a separate conversation in 2008, Putin sought to convince Bush that Ukraine was an "artificial country" with a fragmented society and warned of a "long-term confrontation" with the West if Ukraine were admitted to NATO.
• Bloomberg reported earlier that signals from Moscow have indicated that Russia will demand significant changes to the draft "peace plan" agreed by Ukraine and the United States.

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