Transcript of Putin warning Bush Jr. against Ukraine's accession to NATO declassified

In 2008, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin told then US President George W. Bush about the "risks" of Ukraine's potential accession to NATO and called it an "artificial" country. This is stated in a declassified transcript of their meeting in Sochi. The conversation was published by The National Security Archive is a non-governmental research center at Georgetown University.

During the last meeting between Putin and Bush Jr. as presidents at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi on April 6, 2008, the Kremlin leader decided to express Russia's position on NATO's non-expansion: "This will not be new to you, and I do not expect an answer; I just want to say it out loud. I would like to emphasize that the accession of a country like Ukraine to NATO will create a long-term field of conflict for you and us, a long-term confrontation.".

Bush Jr. asked why, to which Putin replied that 17 million Russians allegedly live in Ukraine, which is "one-third of the population.".

Putin then turned to traditional Kremlin pseudo-historical propaganda: "Ukraine is a very complex state. It is not a nation built naturally. It is an artificial country created in Soviet times. After the Second World War, Ukraine received territory from Poland, Romania, and Hungary – almost all of western Ukraine. In the 1920s and 1930s, Ukraine received territory from Russia, which is the eastern part of the country. In 1956, the Crimean peninsula was transferred to Ukraine.".

He argued that NATO is allegedly perceived by a large part of Ukraine as "a hostile organization" that "creates problems for Russia." He also complained about the possibility of deploying military bases and new military systems near Russia, which would allegedly create "uncertainty and threats" for Russia .

"Russia will work to deprive NATO of the opportunity to expand. Russia will constantly create problems there. Why? What is the point of Ukraine's membership in NATO? What is the benefit for NATO and the United States? There can be only one reason for this, and that is to secure Ukraine's status in the Western world... I do not think this is the right logic... And given the different views of parts of the population on NATO membership, the country may simply split," Putin said at the time.

• The National Security Archive also published a transcript of Putin's meeting with Bush Jr. in 2001. At that time, Putin actually asked the US president to take Russia into NATO.