Putin: Russia not seek to restore Soviet Union

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Kyiv to immediately stop hostilities and return to the negotiating table.

“We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately cease fire, all hostilities, the war that it unleashed back in 2014, and return to the negotiating table,” he said on September 30, speaking at the ceremony of accepting four new territories into Russia in the Kremlin, TASS reports.

Russia does not seek to restore the Soviet Union, it does not need it, Russian President Vladimir Putin added.

“There is no Soviet Union, there is no past. Russia today does not need it anymore, we are not striving for this,” he said.

During his speech, Vladimir Putin also announced the accession of four new regions of Russia - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions [of Ukraine] to the Russian Federation.

"This is the inalienable right of people," the Russian president said.