That was around 2000. At the time Russia was fighting a brutal, dirty war in Dagestan and Chechnya and trying to destabilise Georgia, was supplying and providing intelligence to Saddam Hussain, was propping up the Assad regime and were helping the Iranians set up their nuclear technology program. Then there are the apartment bombings and Ryazan incident. The Kursk nuclear accident. Russian foreign relations, internal conflicts and military security operations at that time were as much of a dumpster fire as ever.

It's hard to see how those activities could be compatible with NATO membership. It would simply have provided Russia with security guarantees while providing cover for it to cause as much trouble as it wanted.