Just for the record again. Vladimir Putin's 2005 quote. Read it as you want.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

"Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and co-patriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself."

[NuclearDem]

1. When does this OP get the first "but the US..." reply?

[msanthrope]

2. Putin appeals to the extreme left and the extreme right....reading the excuses

offered for him is sickening.

[NuclearDem]

3. It's pure hypocrisy.

Imperialism is only bad when the US or West does it, but it's just fine or even excusable when Putin does it.

There are true anti-imperialists, and then there are those folks.

[soundsgreat]

4. A quote from Gorbachev 2014. Just for the record.

Gorbachev sees the reason of the current events in “disruption of the Perestroika, in thoughtless adventurist “dissolution of the Soviet Union”.

“I was struggling to preserve a united nation with all political - I want to underscore that - means available. Before and after the collusion among the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha I warned about the dangers of the then Russian government’s disastrous actions."

http://en.itar-tass.com/russias-foreign-policy/723538?utm_medium=rss20