Don’t the people in those countries get a say?

Asking Putin to step down? That's gonna be a non-starter. He doesn't want to consolidate russia just to give it to somebody else.

The former Soviet republics do not want to be part of Russia, and it should be their decision.

As a Latvian:

What the actual fuck?

Are we your serfs to pass around like property?

Stop adjusting to Putin‘s ridiculously displaced Overton window.

Is this a troll? Putin and his successor will never allow "USSR" to be a democratic anything. Despotic tendencies are forever.