Overview
- Putin made the remarks on November 5 at a meeting of the Presidential Council on Interethnic Relations in Moscow.
- He said the Soviet-era ideological glue that unified the USSR can be replaced in Russia by patriotism.
- The president stressed this patriotism should be serious and deep, not “kvasny.”
- He defined it as nurturing love for a common, large Fatherland with a clear understanding for every nation and ethnos living in Russia.
- He argued that preserving the shared homeland best protects people and gives confidence in the future for their children, while noting the USSR’s “Soviet people” formula was effective but ideologized.