Did Joe Biden spoke in 1997 that the entry of the Baltic countries in NATO will lead to a military response of Russia?

In the spring of 2022, a video became popular, where the future president of the United States discusses the danger of the adoption of three former Soviet republics in NATO. We checked whether this video correctly represents in the media and social networks.

In early March 2022, the video actively distributed publics on VKontakte, where most publications were accompanied by a quote attributed by Biden: “The only thing that could provoke Russia to a hostile and energetic answer is the expansion of NATO to the Baltic countries” (in another option: “The Great Country of Russia can be provoked to military operations only by the expansion of NATO to the Baltic countries”). Such records appeared, in particular, in the communities "Cold War 2.0" (270,000 subscribers at the time of writing this analysis) "Russia | General Staff reports | Z " (276,000 subscribers), "Donetsk DPR Russia News of the Donbass of Novorossia" (265,000 subscribers), "The USA is a sponsor of world terror" (264,000 subscribers) and "Third World War" (200,000 subscribers). March 8, the author of the note on the website of the TV channel "Tsargrad" I gave it The quote is like this: “Biden said that if anything could provoke Russia for military operations, it was the expansion of NATO at the expense of the Baltic countries.”

In mid-May, Internet users continued to publish this video, reproaching the American head of state for inconsistency in foreign policy. Relevant publications can be found, in particular, in Facebook* And Twitter.

The video spreading on social networks is cut out of the true record of Biden's performance, which is available on the website of the American television channel C-Span And YouTube. On June 18, 1997, the future president of the United States played at the Analytical Center Atlantic Council. At that time he was The Senator from the state of Delaware was in the US Senate Committee on International Relations.

Biden’s speech and the discussion followed were indeed devoted to the expansion of NATO and the future interaction of the alliance with Russia. Shortly before the meeting at Atlantic Council Signed The fundamental act on mutual relations, cooperation and security between the Russian Federation and NATO. Three weeks after Bayden's performance passed Madrid summit The North Atlantic Alliance, on which Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic is the first of the countries of the socialist camp (not counting the GDR that included in NATO as a result of the unification of Germany) received an invitation to join the organization.

Despite the authenticity of the roller, a 35-second passage widely replicated by Internet users can mislead.

Firstly, Biden’s quote is far from always transmitted. The future president separately clarifies in his replica, which does not imply a military reaction from Russia (1:13:40): “There is one point that could cause a strong concern in the short term and which is associated with the adoption (Baltic countries in NATO. - approx. Ed.). He has nothing to do with their merits and readiness. This is the accession of the Baltic countries in the context of relations between Russia and NATO, between Russia and the USA. If something could persuade the scales in terms of decisive (vigorous) and hostile (hostile) reaction of Russia (I do not mean military), then this is it. "

Secondly, in his speech, Baiden noted that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will nevertheless become members of the Alliance, and Russia realizes that the expansion of NATO corresponds to its interests in ensuring security in the region (1:14:20): “I believe that the time that next few years will solve this problem so that Russia feels this idea and sees that the expansion of NATO not only contradicts it interests, but also in its interests in terms of expanding stability. <...> I expect, and I also hope that in the near future, until the end of this century, we will see the Baltic countries in NATO if they still want to join. ”

Thirdly, Biden in his reasoning shared his impressions of communication with his Russian colleagues. He assured that not one of the Russian politicians, including the parliamentarians he met, considers the expansion of NATO a challenge to his national security and understands the non -aggressive nature of the alliance. According to him, the problem with the expansion of NATO is psychological in nature and is associated with the collapse of the USSR and the uncertainty with the place of Russia in the world in the 21st century.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia Entered In the North Atlantic Alliance in 2004, along with Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania. Practical cooperation of NATO and Russia Paul Only ten years later due to events around Ukraine. The work of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation at NATO in Brussels and the NATO information bureau in Moscow was suspended only in October 2021 at the initiative of the Russian side. The last meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the moment was held in January 2022.

Thus, in 1997, the current president of the United States did not claim that the entry of the Baltic countries in NATO could lead to military operations from Russia. Biden chose a more streamlined formulation of a “decisive and hostile answer”. Before and after the 35-Second Roller of the statement, the politician made several statements that better help to understand his position and the general context.

*Russian authorities They think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Facebook, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Photo on the cover: Wikimedia Commons

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What do our verdicts mean?

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