“.....
The idea of Russia’s joining NATO is actually decades old. Mikhail Gorbachev proposed it in 1990, and President Putin reportedly proposed it to President Clinton. Thus, the obstacle to Russia’s membership in NATO appears to be NATO. But NATO may be willing, indeed eager, to accept Russia now given that it has shored up membership of several countries that feel threatened by Russia. In joining NATO, Russia would be pledging to defend their independence from any other nation including itself.
.....”
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/591036-invite-russia-to-join-nato
Dumb idea but it’s been proposed.
NATO units present form is obsolete.
Typo
“..NATO units present form is obsolete. ...”
Should read ‘NATO in its present form is obsolete.
Russia has been told on more than one occasion that they need only file the application to join NATO. Yeltsin and Putin himself have apparently had these discussions, though nothing formal.
The problem is that in order to join, you must demonstrate that your country is free and doesn't torture and murder people for no reason.
Russia is a country where journalists still get two bullets in the skull on Putin's birthday after reporting things the regime doesn't like, or where people get tossed off of buildings, or else--as they did in Soviet times--locked up in insane asylums.
Russia wanted to skip the "free elections" and "don't murder people" requirement and just be given a leadership role on the grounds that they are a "great power" and "do not join coalitions, they lead them."
It's not NATO that is stopping Russia from applying for NATO membership. Membership is open to any country that is willing to apply and which can demonstrate that they are a free country, not a dictatorship.