Former US President Bill Clinton proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a joint effort against international terrorism, including a coordinated strategy to target Osama bin Laden, according to newly declassified records of their first summit.
The transcript of the exchange, held at the Kremlin on June 4, 2000, was released on Thursday following a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive, an independent research institute at George Washington University.
According to the minutes, Clinton asked Putin: “What about anti-terrorism cooperation between our countries, particularly against Usama bin Laden?” He then suggested that Washington and Moscow develop a “comprehensive approach” to dealing with the then-Al-Qaeda leader.
At the time, Putin was newly elected and grappling with an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. In response, he agreed that a “common front is necessary” to confront what he described as a “Terrorist International.”
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The declassified papers also revealed that the leaders discussed Russia’s potential role in NATO. Clinton acknowledged that the alliance’s eastward expansion was seen as a “problem” in Moscow, while Putin was quoted as saying: “There should be full-scale relations between Russia and NATO.”
Following the 9/11 attacks, Washington and Moscow deepened cooperation against radical Islamist groups, setting up joint task forces.
But as the United States increasingly shifted toward unilateral military interventions, Russia grew sceptical. Moscow strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, denouncing it as a breach of international law and a dangerous precedent of fabricated justifications for the use of force.
Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Moscow remained willing to work “with all countries that do not apply double standards” in the fight against terrorism.
Relations between Washington and Moscow, however, have deteriorated sharply in recent years, particularly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Cooperation in most areas, including counterterrorism, has been reduced to a minimum.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the two sides have begun exploring ways to revive bilateral relations. In several phone calls and during their meeting in Alaska earlier this month, Trump and Putin discussed potential areas of economic and energy cooperation.
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