Recently declassified US transcripts from the early 2000s show that Russian President Vladimir Putin openly raised the question of Russia potentially joining NATO during talks with then US President George W Bush. The documents were released after a court case won by the National Security Archive, an independent research institute and library based at George Washington University. The transcripts were cited by European Pravda.

One of the key conversations took place on 16 June 2001. During that meeting, Putin referred to earlier Soviet attempts to become part of NATO and questioned whether the alliance’s previous objections were still relevant. He noted that Russia no longer faced the same political conditions that had been cited in the past and suggested that Moscow still felt excluded from the Western security framework.

In the transcript, Putin recalled that the Soviet Union formally applied to join NATO in 1954 but was rejected. According to him, NATO justified its refusal with four main arguments: unresolved issues around Austria and Germany, the Soviet system’s control over Eastern Europe, and the need for closer cooperation with the United Nations disarmament process. Putin argued that all of those conditions had since been resolved and suggested that Russia could now be considered a potential ally.

He also stressed that he had never viewed the United States as an adversary, even during the Cold War. In the same exchange, Putin described Russia as a European and multi-ethnic country, comparable in some ways to the United States, and said he could imagine the two nations becoming allies. However, he added that Russia felt sidelined by NATO and implied that this exclusion shaped Moscow’s outlook.

The transcript does not record any direct response from President Bush to Putin’s remarks about NATO membership. Instead, the discussion appears to have moved on to other topics without addressing the issue further.

Separate transcripts from later years reveal a much more confrontational tone, particularly regarding Ukraine. In a conversation dated 6 April 2008, Putin warned Bush that admitting Ukraine to NATO would inevitably lead to a long-term confrontation between Russia and the West. He described Ukraine as an artificial state with deep internal divisions and said its membership in the alliance was absolutely unacceptable to Moscow.

During that exchange, Putin elaborated on his view of Ukraine’s history, arguing that its modern borders were the result of Soviet-era decisions rather than a natural process of nation-building. He claimed that large parts of Ukraine had been transferred from Russia and other neighboring states at different points in the 20th century, and emphasized the country’s ethnic, linguistic, and political diversity.

Putin told Bush that around 17 million ethnic Russians lived in Ukraine, roughly a third of the population at the time, and said attitudes toward NATO varied sharply across regions. According to the transcript, he argued that NATO was perceived as hostile by many Ukrainians and warned that accession could deepen internal divisions, potentially destabilizing the country.

He further claimed that Ukraine’s entry into NATO would bring foreign military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders, creating new security risks. Putin said Moscow would respond by relying on anti-NATO sentiment within Ukraine to obstruct the alliance’s expansion and generate ongoing difficulties for NATO from within the country.

In concluding remarks from that discussion, Putin questioned what practical benefit NATO or the United States would gain from Ukrainian membership, arguing that the move was driven primarily by a desire to anchor Ukraine firmly in the Western sphere. He maintained that Ukraine’s real priority should be strengthening its economy and achieving internal stability rather than joining the alliance.

The release of these transcripts comes as discussions continue around a US-backed peace framework involving Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Kyiv does not accept any proposal requiring it to abandon its goal of NATO membership. At the same time, signals from Moscow suggest Russia intends to push for significant revisions to the current draft peace plan.