US declassifies Putin–Bush transcripts - Statements on Ukraine revealed
Photo: Vladimir Putin, Russian president (Getty Images)
Transcripts of conversations between Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and former US President George W. Bush have surfaced online. As early as 2001 and 2008, the Kremlin leader clearly signaled his opposition to Ukraine’s accession to NATO, along with other key positions, according to the press center of the National Security Archive.
Putin–Bush conversation in 2001
As early as 2001, Vladimir Putin told George W. Bush that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would create a field of conflict between Russia and the United States and lead to long-term confrontation.
Putin said that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would, in the long term, create a field of conflict between Russia and the United States and lead to prolonged confrontation.
When asked why he viewed the consequences of Ukraine joining the Alliance this way, Putin argued that Ukraine was an artificially created, complex state formed from territories of neighboring countries.
He also claimed that Russians make up about a third of Ukraine’s population and that a significant share of its residents perceive NATO as a hostile structure.
Putin said at the time that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would create serious problems for Russia, pose a threat through the deployment of military bases and new weapons systems near its borders, and generate uncertainty and danger. He added that Moscow would rely on anti-NATO forces in Ukraine to prevent the Alliance from expanding and would continue creating obstacles to that expansion.
Leaders' conversation in 2008
In 2008, Putin predicted a conflict between the United States and Russia, as well as a possible "split" of the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin leader said that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would, in the long term, create a field of conflict between Russia and the United States, adding that internal divisions within Ukraine could lead to its fragmentation.
He again repeated his narrative of Ukraine as an "artificially created state back in Soviet times" and voiced concerns about NATO’s military infrastructure moving closer to Russia’s borders.
Putin told Bush that he had long argued Ukraine was divided between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces, and that once pro-Western leaders came to power, they quickly became internally divided.
Moscow does not accept the current version of the US peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. One of the points Russia refuses to agree to is Ukraine’s future accession to NATO, according to an anonymous source close to the Kremlin, cited by the media.
The initial version of the US peace plan, consisting of 28 points, contained a veto on Ukraine joining the Alliance. As reported, the initial draft was formulated by American and Russian representatives.
