The forgotten NATO enlargement dove in the Kremlin

Abstract

Has Vladimir Putin always stood against NATO’s eastward enlargement? Detractors claim that Moscow has invariably objected to the transatlantic organisation moving towards its borders. This article challenges the prevailing orthodoxy by demonstrating that at the turn of the century, the Russian head of state was quite comfortable with NATO ‘setting up shop’ in Eastern Europe. Drawing upon declassified US diplomatic cables and other historical sources, the presented material speaks to selective forgetfulness on the part of the Russian leadership. The first years of ‘Putinism’ were not marked by assertions that NATO’s eastward expansion complicated relations with the West. On the contrary, his public remarks suggested that Russia was not opposed to this process. Simply put, Putin’s own words at that time refute his present-day arguments and display of grievances.