Putin claims to have talked to Clinton about joining Russia to NATO

Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that in the early term of his mandate he thought about Russia's admission to NATO.

In a series of interviews with US film director Oliver Stone, Putin said he was asked about possible Russian alliance alliance when then US President Bill Clinton visited Moscow in 200, reports Fena.

- During the meeting, I said, "Let's consider the option for Russia to join NATO." Clinton said "why not?" The US delegation became then, however, very nervous - Putin said.

The Russian president said in an interview several months before Clinton's visit in June 2000 to not oppose Russian alliance membership, but his comments to Stone were the first public confirmation of that topic. Stone conducted interviews in the period 2015-17. They will be shown on the US cable TV Showtime in four works starting today. The first two-segment segments became available to the media before presenting the interview. In these segments, Putin described Russia under his leadership as a country that seeks to improve relations, but is dissatisfied with Washington's "imperialist mentality."

Despite Putin's former interest in joining NATO, he has criticized the alliance in an interview with Stone for expanding eastward to the Russian border, according to Associated Press.

• 12 Jun, 2017
• 1345 views