Member states of NATO members and three former Yugoslav republics) from 12 March 1999 to 5 June 2017. NATO has added new members seven times since its founding in 1949, and since 2017 NATO has had 29 members. Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany (in 1955) and Spain (in 1982). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. Between
Russia–NATO relations becoming a NATO member has at different times been floated by both Western and Russian leaders, as well as some experts. During a series of interviews with filmmaker Oliver Stone, President Vladimir Putin told him that he floated the possibility of Russia joining NATO to Bill Clinton when he visited Moscow in 2000. Putin stated: "During the meeting I said, 'Let's consider an option that Russia might join NATO. Mr. Clinton said 'Why not?' But the U.S. delegation got very nervous." According to former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in the early days of his presidency around 2000–2001,