WASHINGTON, Jan 9 Russia «seeks» to restore the order of things that existed under the Soviet Union, which is unacceptable for Washington, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. «I believe that this is so, this is one of the goals of President (Vladimir's Russia. — Ed.) Putin,» he said in an interview with CNN. The head of American diplomacy said that this means the restoration of the sphere of influence over the post-Soviet countries. He called such a «striving» unacceptable. It is not the first time in the United States that the assumptions of the «intention» of the Russian leadership to restore the Soviet Union have been expressed. So, in December 2021, Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that Vladimir Putin «as a project of his legacy seeks to recreate the Soviet Union.» Her words were then commented on by the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov. According to him, this is impossible — Nuland herself understands this. Putin himself has repeatedly emphasized that restoring the USSR is senseless and impractical. In Geneva, consultations on Russian proposals on security guarantees will be held, after which a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will take place in Brussels, and consultations at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will take place in Vienna. At the end of 2021, Russia published draft agreements with the United States and agreements with NATO Security Assurance. Moscow, in particular, requires its Western partners to provide legal guarantees against further expansion of NATO to the east, from joining the Ukrainian bloc and from creating military bases in post-Soviet countries. Borrell threatened Russia with consequences in case of escalation in Ukraine
