Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for Russia to build a Eurasian economic union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, in an article published Tuesday, as he gears up to return to the Kremlin after presidential elections in March.

Moscow aims to create the “Eurasian Union” on the foundation of the existing Customs Union, a trade bloc that includes Kazakhstan and Belarus, Putin wrote in an article for the Russian newspaper Izvestia. The prime minister’s proposal represents the latest step in Russia’s quest to rekindle economic relations between Moscow and former Soviet republics.

Putin, who has mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century,” denied that his statement represents an effort to rebuild the Soviet empire. Instead, it is about forming a liaison between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, he said. Putin also wrote that the union is open to new member states, and will strive to boost economic and currency-policy coordination among its member states.

Putin admits that he would like to see the union grow into something significant. “We are not going to stop there,” he wrote. We are “setting an ambitious goal—to achieve an even higher integration level in the Eurasian Union.”

Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus already created an economic alliance in 2010 that erased customs barriers in mutual trade. Beginning January 1, they plan to introduce unified market rules and regulations. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are also expected to join the union.

Putin reversed many of Russia’s post-Soviet democratic gains during his two terms as president from 2000 to 2008, and he has remained the country’s de-facto leader after stepping into the prime minister’s office because of a term limit. His successor and protégé Dmitry Medvedev proposed last month that Putin should run for president once again, which essentially guarantees Putin’s return to the Kremlin.

Between Putin’s call for the Eurasian Union and his march back toward Russia’s presidency, it is becoming clear that the ex-kgb strongman has some ambitious goals in mind for Russia. With Putin returning to the presidency, Moscow is shifting into a higher gear in its pursuit of a broader, more powerful and more capable Soviet power.