Nikolay Patrushev warned that Kiev's Western backers could oversee the implosion of Ukraine.
The policy pursued by the West and the Kiev regime it controls may result in Ukraine falling apart and ceasing to exist as a unified state, according to the secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev.
Long before the coup d etat in 2014, Washington has been persuading Ukrainians of the supremacy of their nation and hatred toward everything Russian, said Patrushev, who spoke to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper in an exclusive interview.
While the collective West wants to prolong the conflict between Russia and Ukraine for as long as possible, Moscow wants to wrap up the hostilities sooner rather than later to minimize the damage done to both sides, Patrushev went on.
It is not surprising that unlike Russia, which is interested in a speedy completion of the special military operation and minimizing losses from all sides, the West is determined to drag it on until the last Ukrainian, he said.
The military-industrial complex of the West is one of the main beneficiaries of the prolonged conflict, with the incoming flow of weapons for Kiev driven by its desire to profit, according to the official.
The American and European military-industrial complex rejoices because of the crisis in Ukraine, it has no end to orders in sight, Patrushev said, adding that for some reason people around the world still believe that militarists and aggressors wear uniforms. In late February, Russia attacked the neighboring state, after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied that it was planning to retake the two republics by force.