Cannot remember the US general defining the purpose of the NATO as below:

"Keeping the US in, the Russia out and the Germany down"

> Putin asked Bill Clinton about this in 2000; was rebuffed.

This is misleading. Russia was admitted to the NATO Partnership for Peace, an onramp to membership, before Putin came to power. What Putin asked for, and was rebuffed on, was to skip the political, military compatibility, etc. readiness process then being required of aspiring members and be directly admitted.

Was that Russia more consistent with Western values than now? https://time.com/5564207/russia-nato-relationship/ Here's a Dutch ex-NATO Secretary General saying Russia would have to change quite a bit.