"We are not looking for this status because this notion is loaded with certain elements connected to imposing the influence on other states and whole regions. We do not want to go back to the state that the Soviet Union was in, when it was imposing the lifestyle, political system and the rest on its neighbors, including the Eastern European countries. This is counterproductive, this is too costly and does not have any historical prospects," he said, answering the question whether Russia is a superpower now.

As Putin noted, "the bitter experience of the Soviet Union" is not being taken into account by certain Russian partners in the West. "They keep making the same mistakes, falling into the same trap, coming from them being empires and advancing their policies as such," the president pointed out.