Putin: Europe and West Have Changed Their Goals

The president made his remarks on the occasion of an expanded meeting of the Board of the Prosecutor General's Office, where he said that unsuccessful efforts to destroy Russia from inside forced Ukraine and its Western handlers to resort to terror measures.

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Putin said that high-ranking diplomats in Europe and the U.S. were engaged in strange diplomacy, prompting Ukraine to make every effort to win on the battlefield, adding that "as they realize that this is impossible, they try to achieve a different objective instead to split Russian society, to destroy Russia from inside. But here, too, there is a hitch; this hasn’t worked either", said the president. 

In this regard, Putin said that the Russian armed forces have the support of the country's society, which, as he said, has shown maturity and solidarity in backing the efforts made to ensure the ultimate security of Russia and help the people in Donbass.

Referring to the announcement of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on the arrest of a group of neo-Nazis who were ordered to kill Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov, Putin said that after the failure in the media sphere, the West has resorted to terror, to organize the murder of Russian journalists.   

Along these lines, the Russian president said, "it should be noted of course that we know the names of all the Western handlers, of all members of Western services, primarily the CIA, who are working with Ukrainian security agencies." 

Putin added that, to the detriment of human rights in general, Western decision-makers are only concerned with their own rights, "some cherishing imperial ambitions, others clinging to their old-fashioned colonial past. But this will not work in Russia".     

Since February 24, when President Vladimir Putin launched his special military operation in Ukraine following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass region, Moscow has accused the West of trying to disrupt Russian society and Western countries, for their part, have argued that Russia suppresses the opposition, independent media and even dissent in general.