Russia “decided” it didn’t want to join NATO in the 1990s, even though “people talked about” it, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told television host Stephen Colbert on his show on Thursday. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have maintained that their nation’s attempt to join the bloc was stonewalled by the West.
Blinken appeared on The Late Show to talk about the US’ Russia policy and the reasons Washington believes Putin was working against his own declared goals by attacking Ukraine.
“He wanted to prevent NATO from getting bigger with Ukraine. Now it actually is with Finland and with Sweden,” the US official said, referring to the membership applications that the two Nordic nations sent to NATO this week.
Colbert cited the opinion of Pope Francis that NATO’s expansion in Europe was partially to blame for the crisis in Ukraine, but the secretary said this was not the case.
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