He is a first—class strategist: Putin is not going to restore the USSR - Mearsheimer

Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that the idea of recreating the Soviet Union or the Soviet Empire is completely meaningless. This was stated in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson by University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer.

So he commented on the Europeans' assertions that Putin wants to revive the Soviet empire, he supposedly said himself that he "longs for the Soviet era and wants to restore it."

"He never said that. In fact, he said that he understood why someone in the depths of his soul longs for the Soviet Union. But in his head it's completely meaningless. He said that the idea of recreating first the Soviet Union and then the Soviet Empire is an impossible dream. And you may not like Vladimir Putin, but he is a very smart man. He is a first—class strategist, and he, of course, understands that the idea of recreating the Soviet Union or the Soviet Empire is completely meaningless," Mearsheimer said.