Clinton in 1994: Russia should be the first to join NATO

Russia should become the first country of the former Warsaw Pact to join NATO. Such a thought was expressed by the then President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, during negotiations with US President Bill Clinton in Moscow in January 1994. The transcript of the negotiations was published, along with other documents about Clinton’s visit to Russia, by the US National Security Archive.

The message of the US Embassy about the dinner with the participation of Yeltsin and Clinton at the residence of Novo-Ogaryov near Moscow on January 13, 1994 states that Yeltsin expressed the opinion that relations between the United States and Russia should be the basis of the security system in the world. “Russia should be the first country to join NATO. Then other countries of Central and Eastern Europe can follow,” – the words of the President of Russia are cited. Yeltsin proposed to create a “kind of cartel” to ensure global security, which would include the USA, Russia and European countries.

After that, Yeltsin admitted that at the moment Russia is not ready for membership in NATO, and noted that he did not know what China’s reaction would be to this step. He suggested that the CIA might have some considerations on this matter, noted that Russia no longer has the KGB, and it cannot conduct such an investigation on its own. According to Yeltsin, by disbanding the KGB, Russia saved a lot of money (in 1994, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service existed, as well as the Federal Counterintelligence Service – the predecessor of the current FSB).

In response to Yeltsin’s words, Clinton said that if Russia and other European countries cooperate, peace in Europe can be ensured for a hundred years or even more. At the same time, he did not comment on the Russian president’s statements about NATO.

Documents on the second talks between Yeltsin and Clinton during the visit were also published – they met several times. Reforms in Russia, the issue of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and the situation in Georgia were discussed. Yeltsin said that he categorically disagrees with accusations of imperial ambitions leveled at Russia. Clinton, in turn, said that mistrust of Moscow was growing in a number of European countries, especially after the success of nationalist and populist forces in the State Duma elections in 1993, but he assured that he himself believed in Russia’s successful transition to democracy and that Russia should play a greater role in European affairs. The topic of NATO expansion as such was not discussed.

At the same time, during the negotiations, Clinton raised questions that were painful for Moscow about spying on American diplomats and selling weapons to countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Iraq.

A few years ago, in particular, Yeltsin’s conversations with Clinton in 1999, when relations between the USA and Russia had already deteriorated noticeably, were published. At that time, Yeltsin no longer talked about Russia joining NATO, but suggested to the US president to “give Europe to Russia” so that it would ensure security there. Clinton joked back.

Russia has never officially applied for NATO membership. In 1997, the Russia-NATO Council was created, and the relationship between Moscow and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was called a strategic partnership. Moscow objected to the accession of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact to NATO (the expansion process began in 1999), but only Yeltsin’s successor as president, Vladimir Putin, began to call it a threat.