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→Relations with NATO
When we say that we object to NATO's expansion to the East, we are not expressing any special ambitions of our own, ambitions in respect of some regions of the world. ... By the way, we have never declared any part of the world a zone of our national interests. Personally, I prefer to speak about strategic partnership. The zone of strategic interests of any particular region means first of all the interests of the people who live in that region. ...}}
When we say that we object to NATO's expansion to the East, we are not expressing any special ambitions of our own, ambitions in respect of some regions of the world. ... By the way, we have never declared any part of the world a zone of our national interests. Personally, I prefer to speak about strategic partnership. The zone of strategic interests of any particular region means first of all the interests of the people who live in that region. ...}}
Within hours after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call President [[George W. Bush]] and offer sympathy and support for what became the first invocation of NATO Article V, "an attack against one is an attack against all."<ref>https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/09/10/ar911.russia.putin/index.html</ref>
Within hours after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call President [[George W. Bush]] and offer sympathy and support for what became the first invocation of NATO Article V, "an attack against one is an attack against all."<ref>https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/09/10/ar911.russia.putin/index.html</ref> Putin announced a five-point plan to support the [[war on terror]], pledging that the Russian government would (1) share intelligence with their American counterparts, (2) open Russian airspace for flights providing humanitarian assistance (3) cooperate with Russia's Central Asian allies in [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]] to provide similar kinds of airspace access to American flights, (4) participate in international search and rescue efforts, and (5) increase direct assistance -humanitarian as well as military assistance -- to the Afghan Northern Alliance. The intelligence Putin shared, including data that helped American forces find their way around [[Kabul]] and logistical information about Afghanistan’s topography and caves, contributed to the success of operation and rout of the Taliban. Two weeks after the attacks, Putin was invited to make a speech to a Special Session of the Bundestag, the first ever by a Russian head of state to the German parliament.<ref>http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/40168</ref> Among the numerous subjects Putin addressed in fluent German was peace and stability in the common European home:
{{quotebox-float|"But what are we lacking today for cooperation to be efficient?
In spite of all the positive achievements of the past decades, we have not yet developed an efficient mechanism for working together.
The coordinating agencies set up so far do not offer Russia real opportunities for taking part in drafting and taking decision. Today decisions are often taken, in principle, without our participation, and we are only urged afterwards to support such decisions. After that they talk again about loyalty to NATO. They even say that such decisions cannot be implemented without Russia. Let us ask ourselves: is this normal? Is this true partnership?
Yes, the assertion of [[democratic]] principles in international relations, the ability to find a correct decision and readiness for compromise are a difficult thing. But then, it was the Europeans who were the first to understand how important it is to look for consensus over and above national egoism. We agree with that! All these are good ideas. However, the quality of decisions that are taken, their efficiency and, ultimately, European and international security in general depend on the extent to which we succeed today in translating these obvious principles into practical politics.
It seemed just recently that a truly common home would shortly rise on the continent, a home in which the Europeans would not be divided into eastern or western, northern or southern. However, these divides will remain, primarily because we have never fully shed many of the Cold War stereotypes and cliches.
Today we must say once and for all: the Cold War is done with! We have entered a new stage of development. We understand that without a modern, sound and sustainable security architecture we will never be able to create an atmosphere of trust on the continent, and without that atmosphere of trust there can be no united Greater Europe! Today we must say that we renounce our stereotypes and ambitions and from now on will jointly work for the security of the people of Europe and the world as a whole.}}
In 2004 the Baltic states - [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Estonia]] joined NATO, setting up for the first time a common border between the Russian Federation and a NATO state. Three years later, at the Munich Security Conference, Putin declared, “We have the right to ask: against whom is this [NATO] expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact? Where are those declarations today? No one even remembers them.”<ref>https://aldeilis.net/english/putins-historical-speech-munich-conference-security-policy-2007/</ref> In 2008 NATO said Ukraine and Georgia would become members. Four other [[Eastern Europe]]an states joined NATO in 2009.
===Relations with the United States===
===Relations with the United States===