Did Putin Really Say He Wants to Reconstitute the Soviet Union?

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Executive Summary

It is very commonly stated by Democrat and defense contractor-controlled establishment media that Putin said he wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union.
We verify if this is true.

Introduction

It is taken for granted that Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union. Furthermore, he has either made this comment several times or has made comments that can be interpreted this way on several occasions. This article reviews the evidence for this claim.

The Establishment Media on Putin’s Reconstitution Plans

The following examples show the establishment media promoting the reconstitution narrative.

The answer seems simple. Putin has said several times that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest catastrophe of the 20th century. As an old KGB officer, he would like to right what sees as this wrong and reconstitute Russia as a world power in the mold of the Soviet Union. Putin was angry when George H.W Bush said that the Soviet Union had lost the Cold War and was outraged when Obama declared that Russia was just a regional power.

Now Putin is trying to show the world that Russia is still a world power and that the United States and NATO cannot stop him from achieving his goals. He believes that Russia should have a sphere of influence that includes all the nations that surrounds it and that NATO troops should not be stationed in any of those countries, what Putin calls Russia’s ‘near abroad’. He also believes that Ukraine is part of mother Russia and does not want it to become a western democracy right on Russia’s doorstep. – The Moderate Voice

The second part is true, as Putin has said as much. Putin also said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a catastrophe.

But the assertion that Putin wants to reconstitute Russia as a world power does not mean he intends to reconstitute the Soviet Union.

This video essentially makes the same claim. This video leaves out that the US has been agitating against Russia by asserting that Ukraine, which has an irrelevant military, must join NATO.

More of the Same

The following quote repeats the same story as is shown in the previous quote and the video.

“False flags” to start wars historically aren’t uncommon. Germany used false-flag operations in 1939 to start campaigns against Poland. Arguably, the U.S. did the same in 1964 with the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to start the war against North Vietnam. In March of 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine under the false-flag assertion of the desperate need to save Russian lives in Crimea. Now he threatens further encroachments into the Donetsk region of Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken is keenly aware: “No one should be surprised if Russia instigates a provocation or incident, then tries to use it to justify military intervention hoping that by the time the world realizes the ruse, it’ll be too late.”

To be clear, Ukraine is no military threat to Russia. It is not a NATO member, nor is it likely to become a NATO member. NATO troops stationed in the former buffer states are there to protect them from Putin’s lifelong goal to rebuild the Soviet Union through intimidation and acquisitions by a thousand cuts. These NATO troops are tactically positioned for defense, not offense. If parts or all of the Ukraine were to fall, other states in these buffer zones, especially Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, would immediately become the next likely targets. – Times Gazette

Once again, this explanation entirely leaves out that the US has been agitating for Ukraine to join NATO. Without that context, it makes it seem as if Putin is the aggressor.

What Georgia Thinks of the Collapse of the Soviet Union

This man sees things a bit differently from Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin on The Topic of Restoring the Soviet Union

Putin walks the audience through the history of the Soviet Union and its dissolution. At the 1 minute 26-second point in the video, Putin states the following:

I have already commented on that: it makes no sense to restore the Soviet Union. It is impossible and senseless for a number of reasons, and it is also inexpedient, if we keep in mind, say, the demographic process in certain republics of the Former Soviet Union. Otherwise, we may face insoluble social problems and even erosion of the state forming the ethnic nucleus. So what do we do for Russia proper? How should we approach the geopolitical realities and domestic development? Look despite the losses I have mentioned, Russia is still the biggest country in the world in terms of territory. Even though much of this territory lies in the northern latitudes, nevertheless, this is also important, keeping in mind the Northern Sea Route and much else. This is my first point. Second, Russia is, without any doubt, a word treasure trove of various mineral resources, and this can and must be used cleverly. This too is a huge competitive advantage for us. But our chief gold reserve is not even $600 odd billion that has been accumulated by our Gobsecks at the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. Russia’s chief gold reserve is its people.

Now Putin may be lying. His statement that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a catastrophe does not provide support for a conclusion that he wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union. It is difficult to see where the establishment media is getting this story around reconstituting the Soviet Union. And this following video, which is a speech given over 15 years ago, is where Putin explains why he thinks the collapse of the Soviet Union was a catastrophe.

At the 1 minute 51 second mark, Putin says the following.

Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. For the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian Territory. Moreover, the epidemtic of disintegration infected Russia itself. Individual savings were depreciated and old ideals destroyed. Many institutions were disbanded or reformed carelessly. Oligarchic groups — possessing absolute control over information channels — served exclusively their own corporate interests. Mass poverty began to be seen as the norm. And all of this was happening against the backdrop of a dramatic economic downturn, unstable finances, and the paralysis of the social sphere. Many thought or seemed to think at the time that our young democracy was not a continuation of Russian statehood, but its ultimate collapse, the prolonged agony of the Soviet system.

Thus, Putin gives his reasons, and they don’t conclude that his view of rectifying the collapse of the Soviet Union is to reconstitute the Soviet Union. Reconstituting the Soviet Union would not address almost all of the listed issues.

What the Establishment Media Will Not Explain

This video does an excellent job of explaining how the US broke the agreement with Russia not to try to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. Instead of explaining this, the establishment media points to Putin trying to “reconstitute the Soviet Union.”

Conclusion

I could not find any evidence that Putin said he wanted to reconstitute the Soviet Union, and quite the opposite he has said that doing so would make no sense.

And he is right, it would not make any sense. The Soviet Union captured countries after the end of WW2. Those countries will not go back to being part of a “New Soviet Union.”

Furthermore, when one listens to why Putin thinks the collapse of the Soviet Union was a catastrophe, his reasons do not support the assertion that his plan is to reconstitute the Soviet Union. In fact, they contradict the assertion being made by the establishment media. And it is for this reason that the pundits and experts that are brought onto establishment media do not explain what Putin said about why the collapse was a catastrophe. Putin could record a future video where he points out how false the claims are about reconstituting the Soviet Union in the western establishment media, however, if he were to do this, it is very unlikely the western establishment media would provide this recording with coverage.

The establishment media and US politicians are very obviously projecting onto Putin the story around reconstituting the Soviet Union to trick the US domestic population into supporting military spending. Putin does not intend to do this, but the US military and US defense contractors want the US population to think that Putin intends to do this.