Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Says Russia Was Never An Empire

According to Ukrinform, former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius reminded modern Russian "Empire restorers" of Muscovy's place on the map during the heyday of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, saying Russia was never as powerful and militarily advanced as President Vladimir Putin claimed it was under Peter the Great.

Photo Insert: Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius

"To discuss ‘Imperial Ambitions,’ let's look at the Grand Duchy of #Lithuania (13th- 15th centuries). Not because of the ‘restoration of the empire’ but for the spread of the spirit of freedom. Something had to be preserved in the genes," Linkevičius wrote.

Peter the Great, who ruled Russia for 43 years, was a notorious heavy drinker who even led a drunkenness club called the Jolly Company, later renamed the All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters.

He is remembered as one of Russia's most successful, yet ruthless, rulers. He was also an autocratic tyrant who brutally suppressed all opposition.

As previously reported, Vladimir Medinsky, Putin's aide and head of the Russian delegation to Ukraine talks, stated at the "History of the Future: Peter's Image" forum that Russia intends to expand its territory up to the borders of the Russian Empire, potentially occupying Poland and Finland.

On the 350th anniversary of the last tsar of Muscovy and the first Russian emperor, Peter I, Putin compared himself to Peter I, claiming he, too, has a historic mission - to reclaim lands and strengthen the empire.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia, and Samogitia was one of Europe's largest late-medieval states. During its peak, it ruled over modern Lithuania, Belarus, the majority of Ukraine, western parts of Russia, small parts of Poland's east, Moldova, and the southern part of Latvia. Its reign lasted from 1236 to 1795.

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