>>50388169If he was trying to rebuild the USSR he never would've kept on with Yeltsin's bullshit.
The real answer is Putin is most likely stuck in the past and still views buffering states between Russia and NATO as necessary. Of course, that's not how the West plays anymore, they'll just attempt to starve you out with sanctions instead... but given how China is overtaking the Five Eyes, who knows, maybe they'll revert to the old playbook.
