(CNN) -- Vladimir Putin's gala address before Russian parliamentarians and officials Tuesday surprised no one when he announced Russia's annexation of Crimea. The interesting part was his distorted view of Russian history, and his proclamation that a bizarre kind of simultaneously aggrieved and aggressive hyper-nationalism is now Russia's official ideology. In discussing Ukraine, however, Putin seemed to go out of his way to suggest he had no aggressive intentions and was not planning to divide the rest of the country. Listening to Putin, one could easily forget that Russia is and for many centuries has been the largest country in the world and that it acquired its territories by imperialist expansion often accompanied by genocide and ethnic cleansing.
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Alexander J. Motyl: Putin describes both an aggrieved and aggressive Russia
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Motyl: He rewrites history, portraying Russia as a victim of the West and Communists
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Motyl: Putin says Russia has the right to be a bully, dismisses its previous abuses
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Motyl: West must hold him to his statements that he wants peace with Ukraine
And then, remarkably, Putin adopts a conciliatory tone with respect to @placeholder.