Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed regret over the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s on a number of occasions in the past. He described the break-up of the erstwhile Socialist State as “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century“. It is mentioned that during the fall of Berlin Wall (read German unification), he was at the GDR by the command of the Supreme Soviet of ‘CCCP’ (Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik or USSR).
Recently, the Russian strongman claimed that the former Soviet Republics, too, share his view. Speaking at a forum in Sochi last week, he said that the people of many former Soviet Republics regretted the collapse of the “great state”.

Former Soviet Republics

President Putin told the forum that people of the former Soviet Republics “interpret it in their own way, but all the same they believe that life in the Soviet Union was more secure, calmer and they felt surer of themselves“. He stressed: “There were more opportunities in one great, united, powerful state.”
It is to be noted that Georgia had declared a war against former master Russia in 2008 over some breakaway regions, while the Baltic nations – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – tried to remove traces of their Soviet past. Also, a conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the last four years, with Kiev struggling hard to pull itself out of Russia’s orbit. However, Belarus and some other Central Asian republics maintain close ties with Moscow.

Foreign policy experts have opined that President Putin issued such a statement in an attempt to normalise ties with the former Soviet Republics in the changing global geopolitical landscape. Kremlin has already strengthened ties with West Asian and South Asian nations in order to counter Europe and the US’ anti-Russia policies. It will be easier for Moscow to regain strength, if it manages to ensure the support of the former Soviet Republics. However, President Putin is well aware of the fact that it will be a difficult task for him, keeping in mind the nationalist sentiment of the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
But, Putin loves to accept challenges…..

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das