Lavrov: the West has always sought to weaken and “dismember” Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that throughout its history, the West has been interested in weakening, and even “dismembering,” Russia.

He made the statement in an interview with the YouTube channel “Sama Menshova.”

“It has always been interested in weakening our country — the Russian Empire, the USSR. Just as now — it is interested in weakening, and even dismembering Russia, in order to take control of our wealth. Now we can see that the West has miscalculated,” Lavrov said.

The foreign minister also touched on the topic of the Cold War, noting that during that period there was a certain degree of predictability between the Soviet Union and the United States that does not exist today. According to him, it was a cold war with elements of détente, and within the framework of a bipolar world “everyone understood who was responsible for what and what each side was entitled to.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously expressed a similar view. According to him, the West’s longstanding refusal to recognize Russia’s independence and sovereignty ultimately led to the special military operation in Ukraine. Putin also recalled that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West decided that Russia had weakened and wanted to divide the Russian Federation into four or five more parts.

Putin also referenced his 2007 Munich speech, in which he stated that “Russia will either be independent and sovereign, or it will not exist at all.” At the time, he said, no one listened to him. This ultimately led to the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine today, the Russian leader concluded.