The document was drafted by National Security Council members Alexander Vershbow and Nicholas Burns. It follows that Washington planned to create “an integrated and inclusive security system that would include, among other things, the expansion of NATO” to include the states of Central and Eastern Europe.
“It is necessary to support the possibility of Ukraine and the Baltic states becoming members of NATO. They cannot be allowed to remain in a grey zone or in Russia’s sphere of influence,” the article says.
The authors also noted that the so-called policy of new containment towards the Russian Federation should not be made public. However, they added that “it is impossible to exclude the possibility of democratic Russia becoming a member of the alliance in the long term.”
At the same time, the US authorities were looking for a way to establish “legally formalized relations” with Moscow, which “could take the form of an agreement.” This was supposed to create a mechanism for NATO’s interaction with Russia in the preparation and conduct of military operations. At the same time, Washington did not allow the option of granting the Russian Federation the right of veto in relation to the alliance’s decisions.
White House National Security Council officials also recommended against publicly discussing the possibility of Ukraine’s membership in the bloc, “given Russia’s sensitive stance.”
“In the short to medium term, we need to develop a strategy toward Ukraine while deepening ties between NATO and the Russian Federation,” said a memo to Lake dated December 1994.
Recall that among other documents published by the US National Security Archive, there was material entitled “Gore’s Report on a Face-to-Face Meeting with Yeltsin.” It speaks of Washington’s promise to expand NATO only after consultations with Moscow.
