On December 7, local time, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a meeting, and US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and others declared during the meeting that they were worried that Putin and the Russian government might try to rebuild the Soviet Union. However, Russian presidential spokesman Peskov responded to the relevant remarks of Newland and other US politicians on the 8th that it is impossible to rebuild the Soviet Union.
Screenshot of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Newland's december 7 meeting
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee met in Washington, D.C., on the 7th, and Democratic Congressman Robert Menendez, who served as the chairman of the committee for the second time, presided over the meeting and claimed that Putin obviously wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union and expand Russia's borders. Newland, who attended the meeting as the deputy secretary of state of the United States, was asked about the U.S. policy toward Russia, including the measures that the United States would take if Russia invaded Ukraine, and Russia's related issues in the field of energy. At the meeting, Nuland repeatedly stressed that Putin wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union.
"He [referring to Putin] expressed very clearly his regret for the collapse of the Soviet Union, his regret that Ukraine and Russia are no longer one country, and his doubts about Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence." At the meeting, Nuland declared that there were concerns that Putin's voice had grown louder in recent years because he saw Ukraine as part of Russia and that Putin was actually seeking to rebuild the Soviet Union.
Peskov participated in a regular press conference in Moscow, the Russian capital, on the 8th local time, responded to Nuland's relevant remarks, saying, "Ms. Nuland is very familiar with the situation in Russia and all the nuances of the post-Soviet era (compared with before)." I believe that Ms. Nuland, like ourselves, and other experts, knows very well that the rebuilding of the Soviet Union is no longer possible. ”
Photo of US Deputy Secretary of State Newland during his visit to Russia in October (TASS)
Peskov added that all parts of the former Soviet Union are now developing and integrating, with the emergence of the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union and other forms, such as the union of Belarus and Russia, but all of these are not and cannot be attempted to restore the Soviet Union. Commenting on the current situation, Peskov said that many independent sovereign states have now formed in various parts of the former Soviet Union, and these countries have continued to develop on the basis of mutual respect, trust and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and have successfully carried out diversified interactions and cooperation.
Newland has served in U.S. diplomatic missions in Mongolia and other former Soviet union countries, visiting Moscow for the first time in October as U.S. deputy secretary of state. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova revealed on television at the time that the United States removed some Russian officials from the sanctions list in exchange for Russia's consent to Newland's visit to Russia. After the visit, a Russian diplomat said in an interview with the Russian news agency that Newland's visit to Russia was limited to an understanding visit, and the two sides did not reach any agreement on the Ukrainian issue.