Have a read at the following article by Dr Neil Melvin, Director International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, former senior adviser at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Energy Charter, the European Union and the United Nations.
Nationalist and Imperial Thinking Define Putin's Vision for Russia..
"Putin has become convinced that his historic role is not just to overcome the end of the Soviet Union, but to undo the Bolshevik nationalities policies that laid the foundations for the contemporary state system of Eurasia."