Putin: Russia's NATO Accession Impossible Unless Alliance Transforms

Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Monday that Russia will not consider the possibility of joining NATO unless the alliance reforms and treats Moscow as an equal partner.

However, Russia might regard its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as possible at some time in the future if the alliance undergoes a serious transformation and grants Moscow equal and full membership, Putin told an interview published in the just-released book "In the First Person. Conversations with Vladimir Putin."

Answering the author's question "Is not it appropriate to review the idea of joining NATO?", the acting president replied, "It is possible to review, but hardly at the moment. The question is, which NATO is meant. If it is the one that took action in Kosovo in violation of U.N. decisions, we are not interested in discussing this, even in theory."

Nevertheless, "if the question is about the serious transformation of the bloc into a mainly political organization prepared for constructive interaction with Russia, then we would have a subject for discussion," he emphasized.

Here he stressed that in any case, he means "a distant outlook."

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