Putin says Russia 'not striving' for return of Soviet Union
Caption: Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech during a ceremony formally annexing four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy, at the Kremlin in Moscow.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia was "not striving" to recreate the Soviet Union as he prepared to annex four Moscow-occupied Ukrainian regions at a Kremlin ceremony.
"The USSR is no more. We can't bring the past back. And Russia doesn't need it anymore. We are not striving towards that," Putin said, after earlier claiming the last Soviet leaders had "destroyed our great country".