Putin accused of rebuilding Soviet empire | The Times
Putin accused of rebuilding Soviet empire
Mikheil Saakashvili
Vladimir Putin plans to rebuild a Soviet-style empire and must be thwarted by making Ukraine a bulwark against Kremlin expansionism, the former president of Georgia has warned.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the Odessa governor, added that only a stable Slavic neighbour could prevent Moscow devouring more territory across the region.
“If Ukraine doesn’t contain Russia, I think Russia can easily wipe Georgia and the Baltic states from the map,” he told The Times. “A strong Ukraine is the biggest check on Russia.”
Ukrainians have expressed disillusionment with their political leaders at polls, allowing pro-Russian candidates to win mayoral and council positions.
By contrast, an opinion poll last week found that Mr Saakashvili was the most popular politician in Ukraine and a petition calling for him to be made prime minister has gathered more than 30,000 signatures.
He is not ruling out the move, saying: “I would like to take part in big changes and reforms, and whatever capacity I can do it, I can do it.”
As president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, he led the tiny nation to war with Russia in 2008 over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, and lost. Now he finds himself fighting Moscow’s interests in Odessa, a pro-Russian heartland and haven for organised crime since the collapse of Soviet rule in 1991.
When pro-European demonstrators ousted Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, Odessa’s mob turned against the new government in Kiev.
In May Mr Saakashvili, an early supporter of the protesters, asked Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, to let him clean up Odessa as regional governor.