"Russia's imperial past for Vladimir Putin has not ended," said Michael Sturmer, journalist of the German Die Welt.

"The one who today will walk through the treasuries of the Kremlin, learns something about diplomacy. ) In no other place diplomatic gifts were accepted in such splendor and abundance as in the Kremlin. Tsarist silver served little to practical application, it was there to be a sign of dignity, a symbol of power and, if necessary, a currency reserve. What remains is still enough to remind us of Russia's struggle for domination and security, which was held with varying success, "writes the journalist.

So, the "European rank" Russia earned in the Northern War, when Peter the First gained power over the "Baltic Sea empire". The next rank Russia received after the Seven Years' War: after the conclusion of the Hubertusburg Peace in 1763, nothing could happen in spite of Russia's interests. Since then, the "projection of power" of Russia began to stretch deeply toward Europe, the author writes. In the era of Napoleon, Russian soldiers appeared in Central Europe and "clearly demonstrated the king's claim not to be disadvantaged in the reorganization of the land". Since then, Europe has lived under the supervision of Russians, the article says.

The list of imperial triumphs of Russia ended only in the defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The catastrophe was for the tsarist empire and the war of 1914. "However, Russia has never been so weak as it seems, and has never been so strong," the author notes.. Despite the fact that Finland and the Baltic countries were eventually lost, "the Communists were sure that sooner or later (. ) will conquer the lost lands ". "Stalin wanted the Western capitalist countries to tear apart each other, and then, at the last and decisive moment, intervene in the battle," the author writes, referring further to the division of Germany and the ensuing division of peace between the Russian "continental empire" and the US naval power.

However, with the change of the era in 1989-1990, the "bipolar geometry of power" lost its meaning. "Instead of looking for a new balance, the West moved its border pillars to the borders of Russia," the journalist notes..

"Even if this was not prohibited from the point of view of international law, it was risky from the political point of view," the journalist writes, further quoting political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinski that without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, and with Ukraine, Russia becomes an empire.

"One of those who understood the ambiguity of this situation was the future" strong man, "Vladimir Putin. And the West - and especially the EU - did not hear this warning. And now Russia looks at the fragments of the past, collects them together again and checks which ones fit for the future. ) For Putin, Russian history, irresistibly promising Eurasian domination, will not end for a long time. He does not hide the fact that Russia is everywhere where there are Russians. The West should have known what this means, "the author writes in conclusion.