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In CNN's April 15, 2022 He was once Putin's Prime Minister. Now he supports Ukraine after 05:30 former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov says (my transcription, no closed captions available):

I'll bring you back twenty years ago when I was prime minister and (Putin) was in (his) first term as president. At that time we had excellent relations with the United States (unclear) in general. At that time me -- as the head of the cabinet -- I announced (that) I was dreaming to get Russia as a full-fledged member of NATO.

Mr. Putin at that time, in not such a direct way also said that he didn't exclude such a position. And we established together with NATO a special council - a Russia-NATO Council, and relations were very good.

Right now it's a completely different situation (and) a completely different Putin.

Wikipedia's Russia-NATO relations: NATO-Russia Council doesn't specifically mention any discussion of Russia joining NATO. So I'd like to ask:

Question: Did Russia once want to join NATO? Does former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov refer to a serious interest in the past?

Note: I'm asking about Russia's past intention1, not Kasyanov's.

Here's a second reference to this possibility. In CNN's May 16 2022 Tony Blair explains what he thinks changed Putin (my transcription):

The trajectory has been away from the reforming, western-oriented leader who could have allowed Russia to become part of the west - people used to even talk in the old days (I'm talking times when I was there) people were even talking about 'could Russia become a member of the European Union? Was there a way that Russia could be accommodated literally within the structures of NATO?'

And it's very important that people remember this because this myth that Putin perpetrates that we were somehow trying to push him and humiliate Russia... Russia's problem is not the result of our humiliation of Russia, it's the result of bad government in Russia.

Of course "people were even talking about" is not evidence of Russia's serious interest, but it at least supports the question's premise that it is valid to ask the question if it did.

1Answers should reference statements by and evidence of actions associated with Russia itself, not Kasyanov "dream". See this answer in meta.

uhoh
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    different but related (from 2016): Why and since when did Russia stop integrating itself into the Western community? – uhoh May 16 '22 at 03:09
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    Closely related, may be duplicate: https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/70407/why-doesnt-russia-join-nato-and-what-would-happen-if-it-tried – Allure May 16 '22 at 03:40
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    If you're asking about the past only then maybe History.SE would be more appropriate. – Allure May 16 '22 at 03:59
  • @Allure my question is about something that would have happened well in the past, that question is about the present or future, and of course things (and apparently people) are very different now than then. "I'll bring you back twenty years ago when I was prime minister and (Putin) was in (his) first term as president." Now the problem is that there's an answer there that doesn;'t answer that question because it's set in the past but does apply here. Ideally it would be best to be copied here also. – uhoh May 16 '22 at 03:59
  • @Allure there's nothing wrong with asking a political question about a government's decision making process 20 years ago here in Politics SE, and there's often pushback in History SE if the questions are not suitable for their propensity to write long and insightful answers: cf. How is History SE not like Skeptics SE? How to best parse this phrase? – uhoh May 16 '22 at 04:02
  • @wrod how does that look? – uhoh May 16 '22 at 06:35
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    @uhoh. yes, it's clear what you are asking now. – wrod May 16 '22 at 07:46
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    You ask "Did Russia once want..?" How does a country express its desires? What kind of evidence would show that it did or it didn't? Are you referring to the government of Russia? Or perhaps, to a consensus of thought leaders in Russia? Or to something else? – Michael Kay May 16 '22 at 21:51
  • @MichaelKay I've already addressed that; see the meta answer I've linked to in my footnote. After that, note that my question there shows that there are a hundred or more of this kind of question still open on the site already; apparently they are often just fine. – uhoh May 16 '22 at 21:53
  • It would have been much easier to destroy NATO from the inside than, as he decided, from the outside. A completely irrational choice. – Antonello May 18 '22 at 12:21
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    As @user43137 said in his deleted answer, the question seems to be answering itself. – convert Jun 09 '22 at 18:01
  • @convert I've added only enough information to support the premise of the question that they might have. The two excellent, highly upvoted and well-received answer posts provide fully supported Stack Exchange answers. There's a huge difference! – uhoh Jun 09 '22 at 18:11
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    I have not said that the answer by @user43137 was good or something like this. – convert Jun 09 '22 at 18:17
  • @convert are you making a helpful constructive comment? No this Stack Exchange question absolutely does not "seem to be answering itself", at least not in the Stack Exchange sense, which is why two thorough, thoughtful and well-sourced answers were written. – uhoh Jun 09 '22 at 18:19
  • @convert if I'd left out the bit that supports my premise, somebody would leave a comment "Why do you think they might have? Have you done any prior research?" and then the down votes and close votes begin. See this +13 comment on your -1 question. – uhoh Jun 09 '22 at 18:21
  • Which comment on my question you mean? Also I have not downvoted your question. – convert Jun 09 '22 at 18:35
  • @convert the link goes directly to the first comment (#299974), which is the only comment currently at +13, though the +6 comment below it is also instructive. My point is "No this Stack Exchange question absolutely does not 'seem to be answering itself', at least not in the Stack Exchange sense..." and to highlight what can happen when questions fail to support their premise by not including some amount of prior research. I'm saying that your first comment is neither constructive nor helpful. – uhoh Jun 09 '22 at 19:17

2 Answers2

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Others, albeit Westerners remember such talk from Russia, and more specifically from Putin some 20+ years ago too:

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join Nato but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, according to a former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance.

George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said.

The Labour peer recalled an early meeting with Putin, who became Russian president in 2000. “Putin said: ‘When are you going to invite us to join Nato?’ And [Robertson] said: ‘Well, we don’t invite people to join Nato, they apply to join Nato.’ And he said: ‘Well, we’re not standing in line with a lot of countries that don’t matter.’”

The account chimes with what Putin told the late David Frost in a BBC interview shortly before he was first inaugurated as Russian president more than 21 years ago. Putin told Frost he would not rule out joining Nato “if and when Russia’s views are taken into account as those of an equal partner”.

He told Frost it was hard for him to visualise Nato as an enemy. “Russia is part of the European culture. And I cannot imagine my own country in isolation from Europe and what we often call the civilised world.”

("Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule", 4 November 2021, Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian)

About two decades later, Putin recounted discussing the matter with Bill Clinton. RFERL relates in a 2017 article:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that he once raised the possibility of Russia joining NATO with then-President Bill Clinton, and that Clinton said he had "no objection."

Putin delivered this account in a series of interviews with U.S. film director Oliver Stone set to air later this month on the U.S. television network Showtime.

Speaking with Stone in what appears to be Putin's presidential plane, the Russian leader recalls one of his final meetings with Clinton, who left office in January 2001.

"During the meeting I said, 'We would consider an option that Russia might join NATO,'" Putin says. "Clinton answered, 'I have no objection.' But the entire U.S. delegation got very nervous."

In a March 2000 interview with the British television journalist David Frost, Putin was asked whether "it is possible Russia could join NATO."

Putin, who at the time was serving as acting president and weeks later was elected to his first term, responded, "I don’t see why not."

("Putin Says He Discussed Russia's Possible NATO Membership With Bill Clinton", 3 June 2017, RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, with reporting by AFP)

It might get into the realm of opinion-based how serious this was (from all participants in those discussions). For what's worth it, a google search even finds a 2000 report on NATO's site titled: "Should Russia join NATO?"

the gods from engineering
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    I remember those times, and that many people in Europe were extremely nervous because of the special status Russia demanded which would basically give them operational control over much of Europe's militaries. – jwenting May 16 '22 at 09:20
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    During the TV speech by Putin immediately before the current Ukraine conflict, Putin mentioned again his discussion with Bill Clinton about this possibility. – user3528438 May 16 '22 at 13:46
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If we treat the question Did Russia once want to join NATO? broadly, to include the Soviet era, then the USSR indeed show interest in joining NATO very early, was rejected and subsequently founded Warsaw Pact as a counter-weight to NATO:

The USSR, fearing the restoration of German militarism in West Germany, had suggested in 1954 that it join NATO, but this was rejected by the US and UK.

(the rest of the section of the linked Wikipedia article deals with various discussions between the USSR and NATO and within NATO that ultimately led to the rejection of the Soviet proposal.)

Roger V.
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