I tried That ' s a hand on the left , btw <| sep |> The two top comments are exactly this . pretty obvious too <| sep |> The Baltics have at most a 17 population of ethnic Russians . but most countries have around 5 . Every single time this has got brought in any conversation in Russia it ' s been laughed at . If the was posturing to take the Baltic states , surely you don ' t think towards the end of his first term he would at least make some statement posturing towards it ? The Baltics offer nothing to Russia , they aren ' t tied economically , their government and people are aggressive to Russia . What can you possibly think Russia want from the Baltics ? And , no , Ukraine had a favorable government to Russia , had 60 of their trade go to Russia , Russians had their most prized naval base on Ukrainain land and the people came and went from both countries . I have family in Ukraine , it ' s not comparable at all . He ' s elaborated on the Soviet Union quote many times . He believes it ' s a tragedy that so many people have died during the collapse , that so many projects went to ruin , the way it was handled where Oligarchs got to profit while everyone else waited in bread lines . He did not mean it ' s a tragedy in any sense that he wants it back or thinks Russians would be in better position if it stayed . As for it being a GOP talking point , no kidding , and it was shameful when the Republicans did it . I spoke against neoconservatives on the right and will do so on the left because it ' s a destructive policy not based around the real world .