 Billed by its Russian, American, and Canadian participants as a first-of-its-kind exercise for the former Cold War adversaries, Vigilant Eagle was described by Russian Air Force Col. Alexander Vasilyev as a means to " develop procedures and bring the relationship between our countries closer together to unite our countries in the fight against terrorism ”. The groundwork for Vigilant Eagle was laid in a June 2003 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia between President of the United States George W. Bush and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Coming less than two years after the September 11 attacks, and in the aftermath of an increase in Russian-American tensions resulting from the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the meeting saw progress in developing informal comity for bilateral cooperation in areas of anti-terrorism.
