Fiona Hill thinks Putin spent the pandemic looking at old maps and wants to restore 'borders of the old Russian imperium'

Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks the borders of the old Russian imperium are still in play for Moscow to dominate.

Hill, an expert on Putin and the former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the United States National Security Council, said she thinks Putin has spent the pandemic in the archives of the Kremlin.

She said that Putin believes that the borders that were once in Soviet or Russian control should be under Russia's control again.

However, Hill said that doesn't necessarily mean that Putin will annex all of those countries.

By marginalizing regional countries, you can establish dominance by making sure that their leaders are completely dependent on Moscow, either by appointing them through rigged elections or ensuring they are tethered to Russian economic and political and security networks. Hill said that you can see this now across the former Soviet space.

The countries that have experienced Russian influence in the last few years are Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. A few days ago, Azerbaijan signed a bilateral military agreement with Russia despite the country's leader resisting that effort for decades.

The country that got away was Ukraine. Putin is saying that Ukraine does not belong to Ukrainians. He owns it and the past. Hill said that he is going to wipe Ukraine off the map because it does not belong on his map of the Russian world.

She said that if Putin had his way, the modern-day Ukraine of the last 30 years would not exist.