Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Russia’s plans to restore the country’s territory within the borders of the Russian Empire. He stated this at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“We see and we can say we foresaw speculation on this topic, on the topic that Russia is going to restore the empire within the imperial borders. This is absolutely untrue,” Putin said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel. According to the head of state, after the collapse of the USSR, Russia has recognized all the new geopolitical realities and is actively working to strengthen cooperation with all countries that have emerged in the post-Soviet space.
On the evening of February 21, Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the DNR and LNR. This was preceded by an address by the president, in which he spoke about the history of Russia and the creation of the state of Ukraine. Modern Ukraine, according to him, was entirely created by Vladimir Lenin due to the rejection of part of the historical territories of Russia.