Bill Clinton’s relationship with Vladimir Putin
The presidencies of Bill Clinton and Vladimir Putin overlapped. How did the loss of a Russian submarine in the Kursk disaster shape US-Russia ties in 2000?
Image: Vladimir Putin and Bill Clinton converse during a tree-planting ceremony in Japan in July 2000, one month before the Kursk disaster altered their relationship | Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
On 12th August 2000, two explosions occurred in the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk while it was undergoing an undersea exercise. The incident is the subject of a new Sky HISTORY series Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin.
Before the loss of this Russian submarine in the Kursk disaster, then-US president Bill Clinton had formed a friendly bond with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. So, how did the Kursk tragedy shape the ties between the two men?
Russia: a faded nation on the cusp of major change?
Putin initially became Russia’s acting president on 31st December 1999. Clinton phoned Putin to congratulate him on the milestone, and later recalled hanging up 'thinking he was tough enough to hold Russia together'.
The 1990s had seen Russia’s economy falter and its currency almost completely collapse. Meanwhile, in the corridors of power, corruption was rife. In a new interview for Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin, Clinton recalls the new Russian leader’s eagerness to turn things around.
'The Cold War had divided us. I wanted to do my best to help Russia make a transition to a democracy. President Putin was clearly determined to restore Russia’s greatness. I was all for that.'
Nonetheless, Clinton had his misgivings. 'You just have to decide what you mean when you say you’re a great country. So I worried about Putin, that we were going to have some manifestation of their toughness.'
Tension arises in the Clinton-Putin relationship
On 12th August 2000, two explosions occurred (one closely after the other) in the front hull of the Russian submarine Kursk. All 118 crew members ultimately lost their lives, while the remains of the stricken submarine sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea.
Later that day, word reached the Clinton administration, which expected the Russian government to seek American assistance with recovering the sub. However, for 24 hours after the sinking, the anticipated request was a no-show.
'I made the decision to offer our help,' Clinton remembers. Russia, unlike the United States, was not a member state of the military alliance NATO, which once stood in opposition to the Soviet Union. However, President Bill Clinton thought Putin knew 'I wanted the United States, Russia and NATO to be allies in a new world.'
Clinton surmises that Russia’s initial resistance to the offer of NATO help was for national security reasons. 'Putin knew that, if we went down there, there were things we would learn that couldn’t be unlearned about their technology.'
President Putin’s reputation incurs early damage
Putin’s seemingly lethargic response to the Kursk crisis angered the Russian public. Clinton reflects: 'I thought that it was a mistake, the way President Putin tried to distance himself from the problems. I don’t think it makes you weaker that you accept help from people.'
Clinton went on to proactively make a phone call to Putin. On the call, the US president explained: 'I want to say personally how very sorry I am about what has happened to your submarine. I know that our people have been in touch through NATO, but if there’s anything we can do, just let us know.'
Five days after the accident, Putin finally accepted NATO's offers of assistance. However, when divers eventually reached the Russian submarine Kursk, the disaster’s true scale was confirmed. Not one member of the sub’s 118-strong crew had survived.
Angry at how fiercely Russian journalists criticised his government’s response to the Kursk sinking, Putin proceeded to take repressive action against the press.
Clinton admits today: 'I thought we should keep trying to work things out with him. I thought he had enormous potential to lead Russia into a more open, interconnected world — and he didn’t.'
Could Russia have joined NATO?
In a 2024 interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Russian president touched on his relationship with Clinton. Putin revealed: 'I said to him, I asked him, "Do you think if Russia asked to join NATO, do you think it would happen?"'
According to Putin, the 42nd US president replied 'I think so', but in the evening told him: 'I’ve talked to my team, no, it’s not possible now.'
Clinton put forward his own version of events in an article for The Atlantic back in April 2022. In the article, titled 'I Tried to Put Russia on Another Path', Clinton claimed he 'left the door open for Russia’s eventual membership in NATO'.
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