BISHKEK, October 13. /TASS/. Russia's special military operation is an attempt to stop the war in Ukraine that was unleashed in 2014 after a coup in that country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State.

"As a reminder, the Ukrainian crisis began in 2014, when a coup was organized and then war was unleashed - the fighting in southeastern Ukraine. That's where it all started. Our special military operation is not the start of the war, but an attempt to stop it," he said.

According to Putin, the reason for the conflict in Ukraine lies, among other things, in the fact that a narrow group of countries does not want to part with their diminishing status of a hegemon and, for this purpose, directly provokes crisis situations in various regions of the world, actively fomenting both old and new hotbeds of conflict. "In the same way, they are persistently trying to undermine Russia’s friendly relations with its allies in the broad sense of the word and partners, and as we know, all means and threats are put to use, including support for extremist and nationalist movements in our countries. Most of those present, I am sure, have experienced and seen this for themselves," the president said.

Putin also expressed confidence that only on the basis of the sovereign equality of states and a calibrated balance of interests of the members of the world community is it possible to ensure security and optimal development conditions for all countries.

"We feel that our approaches here are supported by many countries. The concluding documents of the recent SCO, BRICS, Russia-Africa summits, and the meeting at the level of parliamentarians between Russia and Latin America shared the same logic," the president said.