“One would have the impression that when he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. “She did not take anything from them, she returned (to Russia) what was hers,” Putin told young businessmen in Moscow.
THE President of Russia Vladimir Putin he compared his policy today with that of Peter the Great, when the tsar was at war with Sweden and invaded its territories, as well as Finland, a part of Estonia and Latvia.
“We just visited an exhibition dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great. It is shocking, but almost nothing has changed (…) Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years. One would have the impression that when he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. “She did not take anything from them, she returned (to Russia) what was hers,” Putin told young businessmen in Moscow.
“When he founded a new capital (s.a. St. Petersburg) none of the European countries recognized this territory as Russian. Everyone considered it part of Sweden. But Slavs have lived there since time immemorial, next to the Finno-Ugric peoples. “Take it back and strengthen these territories,” he added.
“Obviously, it is up to us to take back (what belongs to Russia) and strengthen” (the country), “he continued, apparently referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Yes, there were times in the history of our country when we were forced to retreat, but only to reorganize our forces and move forward,” he concluded.
Peter the Great, an authoritarian and at the same time modernizing ruler, ruled for 43 years and gave his name to a new capital, St. Petersburg – where Putin is from – which he built on Swedish-occupied territory.
Sweden’s defeat in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) made Russia the main power in the Baltic and an important factor influencing European affairs.
