Former US President Bill Clinton indicated that he offered his Russian counterparts, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, the possibility of Russia joining NATO.

In an opinion piece for The Atlantic, he emphasized the "development of relations between Russia and the Alliance in the 1990s," pointing to Moscow's Partnership for Peace program participation.

After the conclusion of the Russia and NATO founding law, American funding for the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Baltic states and bilateral participation in some peacekeeping operations. "All this time, we kept the gates of NATO open for Russia, which was made clear to Yeltsin and then to his successor, Vladimir Putin," he wrote.

The former US president denied allegations that "the United States ignored and disrespected and tried to isolate Russia, describing these allegations as false." Stressing that his first foreign visit after assuming the presidency of the United States of America was to Vancouver to meet with President Yeltsin. He also confirmed that he met Yeltsin 18 times and Putin 5 times, including twice during his position as Russian Vice President, while three other meetings took place within ten months.

According to Russian "Novosti," Putin said that "during Clinton's visit to Moscow in 2000, he asked him how the United States would react to Moscow's possible admission to NATO?"

He added, "the real position of the United States regarding such a possibility was embodied in its unfriendly steps toward Moscow. Such as open support for terrorists in the North Caucasus, ignoring Russian security demands and Moscow's concern about NATO expansion, withdrawal from the missile treaty, and others."