Putin: former Soviet republics left USSR with ‘Russian lands'
The republics that were part of the USSR "took with them gifts from the Russian people" during the collapse of the Soviet Union, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised interview.
Putin noted that the Union Treaty stipulated the right of the republics to leave the Union, but the procedure was not regulated.
Putin did not specify what kind of gifts were taken. The Russian president also did not specify which republics of the former Soviet Union "took Russia’s lands."
In the same interview Putin noted that Russia did not annex Crimea in 2014, because the peninsula originally belonged to it.
Putin also admitted that he would run again for President if the relevant amendments to the Russian Constitution were adopted.
"I know this from my own experience, instead of normal rhythmic work at so many levels of government, I will start prowling with my eyes in search of possible successors," he said.
Earlier, in this interview Putin condemned Ukrainian President Zelensky for his comments about the Second World War and warned that this could spoil relations between the countries.
Russia has no territorial claims against neighboring countries, said Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov as quoted by the newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets.