European countries were convinced that Russia would disintegrate in the 1990s. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin, he is quoted by TASS…
According to Putin, he saw maps designed in Europe in which Russia was divided into separate states.
“But the point is not even the cards, but the fact is that in conversations with some of my colleagues – I will not give my last name now, because the person did not give me the right to speak about it publicly – but one of my colleagues, the president of one of the Eastern European countries at one of the meetings with me bluntly said that “for us in Europe there was no question of whether Russia would fall apart or not.” We thought it was inevitable. The only question was when it would happen and what would be the consequences for Russia itself, for its constituent parts and for the surrounding world, bearing in mind that Russia is still a major nuclear power, ”Putin said.
The head of state believes that the Russian side was probably giving grounds for such sentiments at that time.
In an interview for the documentary “Russia. Recent history “Putin also noted that the collapse of the Soviet state was a tragedy both for him and for the overwhelming majority of the country’s citizens.
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