Title: Milestones: 1993–2000 - Office of the Historian
Headings: Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and U.S.-Russian Relations
Milestones: 1993–2000
Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and U.S.-Russian Relations

Content: The debate became more urgent with the outbreak of war in the former Yugoslavia,  in particular, Bosnia-Herzegovina in April 1992. In an effort to address  concerns in Warsaw, Prague, and other capitals—without at the same time unduly  raising concerns in Moscow—NATO formally agreed in January 1994 to establish the  Partnership for Peace, which in effect created a pathway toward membership for  nations joining the organization, without extending the security commitment of  the alliance. Russia joined the Partnership in June 1994. Despite this agreement  on paper, events on the ground increasingly threatened to undermine bilateral  relations. Clinton objected to Russian military intervention in the autonomous  region of Chechnya, including the siege of Grozny, which began in January 1995; and Yeltsin objected to U.S. military intervention in Bosnia, including NATO  airstrikes in September. The Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War in  December, and the Khasavyurt Accord, which ended the First Chechen War in August  1996, did not resolve growing tensions between the two countries. At its meeting  in Madrid, July 1997, NATO formally invited three former Soviet  satellites—Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic—to join the alliance; and in  March 1999, less than two weeks after their membership became effective, NATO  began to bomb Serbia, Russia’s ally, in an effort to end its military operations  in Kosovo. Yeltsin denounced but could not deflect either development.