BEIJING, May 26. /TASS/. The US-led West is not interested in ending hostilities in Ukraine until Russia takes a "back seat," Dmitry Suslov, the deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, said on Friday.

This would ensure the unconditional hegemony of the United States in Europe, he believes.

"They [Western countries] see this war as a chance to weaken Russia in every sense and change it fundamentally," he said at an international webinar entitled The Road to Peace: Prospects for a Political Settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. "Actually, this is the reason why the West continues this war."

The expert is certain that Western countries will be against the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine "until Russia is defeated."

He believes that the United States "does not want to give up its basic principles" and is determined to ensure "unconditional hegemony in Europe."

Suslov noted that the US authorities were trying to force Russia "to take a back seat" and, by influencing the current administration in Kiev, they essentially left Russia no other choice but to launch the special military operation in Ukraine. The expert stressed that in the past, Moscow had on more than one occasion made attempts to prevent the escalation.

Suslov also recalled that during his presidential election campaign, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky promised to "do everything for peace," including implementing the Minsk agreements.

"But what actually happened was quite different. At the same time, the United States and NATO began to increase military cooperation and the retraining of the Ukrainian army according to Western standards and started supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine," he added.