Vladimir Putin has compared his current policy with that carried out by Peter the Great, whose main merit for today’s Russians is the recovery of the navy, the foundation of Saint Petersburg and the opening to Europe. For the first time since his military campaign in Ukraine began in February, the Russian president said that Russia’s goal now is to “regain” territories, a mission he compared to the times of Peter I, whose anniversary was celebrated on Thursday.
Putin paid tribute to Peter the Great 350 years after his birth, and in his speech he compared his policy to that of the tsar when he fought Sweden, then invading a part of its territory, as well as Finland, and a part of what is now They are Estonia and Latvia.
“We have just visited an exhibition devoted to the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great. It is surprising, but hardly anything has changed. Peter the Great led the war in the North for 21 years. You get the impression that he was keeping something, but what was to get it back,” the Russian president said Thursday afternoon at a meeting of young entrepreneurs in Moscow.
“When he founded a new capital, none of the European countries recognized this territory as belonging to Russia. They all considered it part of Sweden. But since time immemorial, the Slavs lived there together with Finno-Ugric peoples,” he added.
Putin did not mention the current hostilities in Ukraine, but some of his words seemed to refer to current war events.
“Apparently, it is also up to us to take back and strengthen ourselves”, and at another moment he admitted: “Yes, there have been moments in the history of our country in which we were forced to take a step back, but only to regain strength and go ahead”.
According to a poll this week to coincide with the anniversary, Russians believe Peter the Great’s achievements significantly influenced the fate of Russia. According to the Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), 36% consider that this was possible thanks to the rebirth of the army and navy; 13% say it was due to cooperation with Europe and 9% attribute it to the foundation in 1703 of the new imperial capital, Saint Petersburg.
The memory of the monarch occurs precisely at a time when the window that Peter the Great opened towards Europe three centuries ago seems to be closing. After launching the “special military operation” against Ukraine, as it is officially called in Russia, Western sanctions in retaliation are cutting Moscow’s contacts with the old continent.
VTsIOM respondents also recalled the tsar’s military victories, such as the Battle of Poltava; access to the Baltic Sea, the development of the economy and the strengthening of the state, as well as the cultural development and the growth of the authority of the Russian Empire in the international arena, says the study.
Pedro I, who was born on June 9, 1672, reigned first as Tsar and then as Emperor from 1682 until his death in 1725.
Putin himself praised the figure of the emperor on Wednesday, when he released a message saying that he was “an outstanding military figure” and a “patriot” whose “large-scale transformations contributed to the strengthening of Russia’s international prestige and determined its development for centuries.” following”.
