Two and a half years after the Obama administration “reset” relations with Russia, House Speaker John Boehner says he’s troubled that the country seems to be slipping back into its Soviet-era ways.

Boehner pointed Tuesday to the recent news that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plans to return to the presidency after years as prime minister following his hand-picking successor Dmitri Medvedev.

“Within Russia, control is the order of the day, with key industries nationalized, the independent media repressed, and the loyal opposition beaten and jailed. Russia uses natural resources as a political weapon. And it plays ball with unstable and dangerous regimes,” Boehner said at the Heritage Foundation.

“In Russia’s use of old tools and old thinking, we see nothing short of an attempt to restore Soviet-style power and influence,” he said...