The secretary of Russia’s National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. AFP
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally Nikolai Patrushev said on Tuesday that the Ukraine conflict has now turned into a fight against the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Russia’s Security Council Secretary Patrushev further said that the “special military operation” is no more a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine and that the West is trying to wipe out Russia from the world map.
“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv – this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,” he told the newspaper Argumenti i Fakti in an interview.
He added, “The Westerners’ plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world.”
Who is Nikolai Patrushev?
An ex-KGB officer, Nikolai Patrushev is seen as one of the major hardline influences on Putin, who played an important role in the Russian president’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Patrushev has also promised victory in Ukraine despite a string of setbacks on the battlefield.
British media reports say that Putin describes Patrushev as “the only truly trusted person and friend in the system of power.”
In May 2022, when Putin reportedly underwent cancer treatment, it was Patrushev who took over control amidst an ongoing war with Ukraine.
US denies Russian claims
United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia.
However, US President Joe Biden has rung cautionary bells of the possibility of World War III if Russia and Ukraine engage in a conflict.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that NATO and US are very much part of the Ukraine conflict.
“De facto they have already become an indirect party to this conflict, pumping Ukraine with weapons, technologies, intelligence information and so on,” Peskov told the media.
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