CNN Dumps Out of Putin Speech, Jim Sciutto Blasts Remarks as ‘Clear Nostalgia for the Soviet Union’

In a stinging panel discussion Monday, commentators on CNN Newsroom condemned Vladimir Putin’s national address on Ukraine.

Putin’s speech comes after a meeting with his Security Council on Monday in which he announced he will sign a decree recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states from Ukraine. Both regions are separatist republics within Ukraine, and Putin recognizing their sovereignty carries major implications for whether Russian tensions with the country will erupt into full-blown military hostilities.

In his speech, Putin spoke about the history of the Russian empire, denounced Ukraine’s independence, and asserted Russia’s suzerainty over the nation, which he called a U.S. colony with a “puppet regime.” CNN took Putin’s speech live with translation, but Dana Bash broke in midway to comment on Putin’s “very intentional history lesson” and his “predictable” attempt to “lay the groundwork” for asserting control over Ukraine.

The Newsroom panel took over from there, as Nic Robertson called it a “maximalist statement” from Putin. He agreed Putin seems to be “laying out his case that Ukraine is always part of Russia,” and “he may even be laying a stake to claim the whole of Ukraine.”

Clarissa Ward followed up by focusing on the “sense of historical grievance” from Putin over Ukraine having its own territorial rights. She further assessed “the situation is growing increasingly grim and increasingly tense,” pointing to fears the situation “will deteriorate further” in the two separatist regions.

Jim Sciutto concluded the panel by calling Putin’s speech “clear nostalgia for the Soviet Union.” On the Soviet Union’s post-Cold War breakup, Sciutto noted how “[Putin] sees that as a tragedy, and part of his efforts in recent years has been to gain back pieces of that, which he has already done.”

Watch above, via CNN.