MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The special military operation in Ukraine is Russia’s response to NATO’s expansion as enemies understand only the use-of-force language, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said at the Knowledge educational marathon on Tuesday.

"What can we do [in response to NATO’s expansion]? We are already doing it. The special military operation is our response to NATO’s endless expansion," the senior security official stressed.

"Our enemies understand only the use-of-force language and do not want to hear or understand anything else except it," Medvedev said.

"Both my comrades and colleagues and I had some illusions in the 1990s that we would start living in harmony with Europeans and the United States and that were we no longer enemies and no longer confronted each other," the politician said.

"However, all this fell to pieces," he said.

Western countries do not want equal partnership with Russia and "they only want to dominate," Medvedev stressed.

"That is why, I want to repeat again: they understand only the use-of-force language and they must be countered only with force. It is only in this case that an end will be put to the intents of NATO’s endless and continuous expansion and the plans of surrounding Russia with ever new military bases and testing our strength," he pointed out.