After visiting an exhibition about Peter the Great on the occasion of his 350th birthday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed an audience of "young entrepreneurs".
- It might seem that when Peter the Great fought against Sweden, he conquered something from them.
But he did not take anything from Sweden, he took back something.
None of the European countries acknowledged that those areas belonged to Russia.
Everyone thought it was part of Sweden.
But since time immemorial, slaves have lived there, Putin says.
Putin goes on to say that it is now Russia's responsibility to "take back what is theirs."
Clips with Putin's statement have been widely circulated on social media, and have been interpreted by some as disguised threats.
Photo: Facsimile
What are the Swedish areas that Putin is talking about?
In the video above, the history explains the background to the Russian president's Sweden-related comments.