MINSK, December 14. /TASS/. The situation on the ground in the Ukrainian conflict zone shows very well that the West’s hope to inflict strategic defeat on Russia is obviously unrealistic, the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has said.

He stressed that Ukraine was the key point of the West's subversive efforts in the region.

"Now the United States and its NATO allies are cynically using the population of that country as cannon fodder in their aggression against Russia. By sending endless echelons of weapons and military equipment to the Kiev regime, the Americans and Europeans are trying to inflict on Moscow what the West customarily describes as strategic defeat, but the real situation on the ground shows the such dreams are hopelessly futile," he said at the 19th meeting of the heads of security and intelligence services of the CIS member states.

"Today the Westerners formulate their aim in a different way: 'Russia must not be allowed to win.' But they will have to abandon this postulate as well," Naryshkin said.

According to the SVR’s chief, it is noteworthy that the US and British intelligence services are also concentrating their efforts on finding mercenaries who would agree to take part in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime.

"The Westerners attach special importance to manning and ensuring the combat readiness of ethnic battalions from the CIS states. Some of their members are considered as a reserve for carrying out subversive actions and sabotage on the territory of not only Russia, but also other CIS countries, including during important election campaigns," he added.

Naryshkin stressed that against this background the problem of international terrorism should be kept in focus. The relevance of this task is increasing not only in the context of the spread of ideas of religious extremism, but also in the light of incoming signals about the intention of the Anglo-Saxons to use radical groups once again in pursuit of their aims. "The risk of proponents of extremist ideologies and terrorist experience penetrating from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Palestine into the territory of the CIS countries is very high," he warned.