Russian President Vladimir Putin calls himself a modern-day “Peter the Great” in the midst of the Ukraine War

Ukraine War: Putin compares his actions to Peter the Great’s invasion at the start of the Great Northern War.

Moscow:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday compared his current actions to Peter the Great’s conquest of the Baltic coast during the war against Sweden in the 18th century.

After visiting an exhibition in Moscow on the 350th anniversary of the birth of tsar Peter the Great, Putin told a group of young businessmen that “you get the impression that when fighting Sweden, he is taking something. He’s not taking anything, he’s taking it on the back.”

When Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg and declared it the capital of Russia, “no country in Europe recognized this territory as belonging to Russia,” Putin said.

“Everybody considers it a part of Sweden. But since ancient times, the Slavs lived there together with the Finno-Ugric peoples,” the Russian leader added.

“We also have a responsibility to restore and strengthen,” Putin said, in an apparent reference to Russia’s attack in Ukraine.

“Yes, there have been times in the history of our country that have been forced to retreat, but only to regain strength and move forward,” he said.

Sweden’s defeat in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) made Russia the leading power in the Baltic Sea and played an important role in European affairs.

But with Russia’s relationship with the West now falling apart due to the invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow government is toning down Peter’s relationship with Europe and focusing on his role in Russia’s territorial expansion.

More than three centuries after he sought to bring Russia closer to Europe, the Russian people on Thursday marked the 350th birthday of tsar Peter the Great with the country deeply isolated by the conflict. Ukraine.

Peter I reigned first as tsar and then as emperor from 1682 until his death in 1725.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)