SOCHI (RUSSIA), Nov 8 — Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he did not want Russia to go back to the path it was on until 2022 before the Ukraine war, when he said other countries were trying to subordinate it to their interests.

The Kremlin leader was asked at the close of a marathon question-and-answer session if Russia would return to its former path once the Putin era was over.

"Russia goes its own way. I hope it will not turn away from its national interests. But of course, it needs to be integrated, we have never refused this, but I would not like Russia to return to the path it was on before 2022,” he said.

"This was a path that was associated with a hidden, veiled intervention in relation to our country, aimed at subordinating it to the interests of some other countries that believed that they had the right to do this. Russia cannot exist in such a subordinate or semi-subordinate state.” — Reuters