Vladimir Putin believes the disintegration of the Soviet Union was a “disaster,” a Kremlin spokesperson reportedly said Wednesday, while calling for new integration among the countries of the fallen U.S.S.R.
“Putin still believes that this was a disaster for those peoples who lived under the roof of one union state,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the Russian News Agency reports.
16×9 INVESTIGATION: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the West: The next Cold War
“This was a disaster that pushed us far back in our development. All the countries that are now independent were actually pushed decades back after the ruin of the Soviet Union.”
While Peskov reportedly admitted reestablishing the U.S.S.R. is “impossible,” he believes there is room for unification.
“The logic dictates the need of new integration in the space of the former Soviet Union.”
WATCH: Parade in Moscow’s Red Square marks 99 years since Russian Revolution
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. However, a poll earlier this year suggested that more than half of Russians would support the rebuilding of the U.S.S.R and the return to Soviet rule.
READ MORE: Vladimir Putin’s ‘gunslinger’s gait’ linked to KGB training, study says
Russia is known to flex its muscle in regions neighbouring its borders, and beyond. Russia annexed Crimea two years ago, and has supported separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has a close relationship with Syria, along with a military presence in the war-torn country.
WATCH: Get an inside look at one of Russia’s military bases in Syria
In recent weeks, allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, apparently aimed at helping President-elect Donald Trump win, has launched vows of investigation by America’s top intelligence agencies.
The relationship between Russia and the U.S. remains fragile.
WATCH: Russia intervened to help Trump win White House: CIA
On Wednesday, the U.S. disputed comments by Peskov that almost all communications channels between Russia and the United States were frozen, saying that there had been no break in dialog.
”Diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a wide range of issues,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues is well known, but there hasn’t been a break in dialog.”
With files from Reuters
Comments