Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join NATO but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, the former NATO chief, George Robertson said this week.

Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2004, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe, the UK’s Guardian reported.

“They wanted to be part of that secure, stable, prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said.

Robertson recalled an early meeting with Putin, who became Russian president in 2000. “Putin said: ‘When are you going to invite us to join NATO?’ And [Robertson] said: ‘Well, we don’t invite people to join NATO, they apply to join NATO.’ And he said: ‘Well, we’re not standing in line with a lot of countries that don’t matter’.”

Robertson’s comments underscore how Putin’s worldview has evolved during his 21 years of unbroken rule of Russia, the Guardian reported.

Robertson also recalled how he became the first and only NATO secretary general to invoke NATO’s collective defence clause, known as article five, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

After the 9/11 attacks, many NATO allies joined the US in invading Afghanistan, with NATO taking over the mission command in 2003.

Robertson was however critical of the US’s chaotic withdrawal two months ago, but contended that the 20-year long mission of western military forces made a difference, despite the return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).