Putin suggested Russiaʼs membership in NATO and complained about the loss of control over Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR

The United States has published verbatim transcripts of meetings and telephone conversations between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and former US President George W. Bush between 2001 and 2008.

They were obtained as a result of a lawsuit filed by the US National Security Archives.

At the leadersʼ first meeting in June 2001 in Slovenia, Putin gave Bush a short "historical lecture" on his interpretation of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"What really happened? Soviet goodwill voluntarily changed the world. And the Russians voluntarily gave up thousands of square kilometers of territory. Unheard of. Ukraine, which had been part of Russia for centuries, was given away. Kazakhstan was given away. The Caucasus too. Itʼs hard to imagine, and it was done by party bosses," says the Kremlin leader.

Bush tells his Russian counterpart that he considers Russia part of the West, not an enemy, and suggests that Putin "rethink the new threats emanating from those who hate America and may hate" Russia.

Putin also raised the issue of Russiaʼs membership in NATO and said that his country feels "deprived" because it does not belong to the Alliance.

"In 1954, the USSR applied to join NATO. I have a document. NATO gave a negative answer with four specific reasons: the absence of an Austrian settlement, the absence of a German settlement, totalitarian control over Eastern Europe, and the need for Russiaʼs cooperation in the UN disarmament process. Now all these conditions have been met. Perhaps Russia could become an ally," Putin tells the former US president.

Putinʼs last meeting with Bush Jr. took place in 2008 in Sochi, immediately after the NATO summit in Bucharest, which failed to approve the NATO Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia.

At the time, the Russian president assured his American counterpart that Ukraine was an "artificial state", so its accession to NATO would create a "long-term field of conflict" for the United States and Russia.

Putin continues to tell Bush that all Ukrainian territories are gifts, and a significant portion of Ukrainians perceive NATO "as a hostile organization".

Even then, the Kremlin leader claimed that Ukraineʼs accession to the Alliance poses a threat to the deployment of military bases and new military systems in close proximity to Russia.

“This creates uncertainty and threats for us. Russia will work to deprive NATO of the opportunity to expand... What is the point of Ukraineʼs membership in NATO? What is the benefit for NATO and the US? There can be only one reason — to cement Ukraineʼs status in the Western world. I donʼt think this is the right logic,” the Russian dictator said.

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