MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Western countries, believing that such a big Russia is not needed, want to divide and subdue it, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel journalist Pavel Zarubin.

"After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, [Western politicians] believed that all they needed was a little patience and Russia would have completely collapsed," he said, adding that such a relatively large country by European standards - with the largest territory in the world and a fairly large number of inhabitants compared to other European countries - "is generally not needed". "It would be better, as suggested by a well-known political figure in the United States [former US presidential adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski, to divide it into five parts and subdue these parts and use the resources," he said.

Putin also referred to US President Joe Biden's claims that Moscow may attack NATO as absurd and a figure of speech. "This is absolutely absurd. I believe that President Biden is aware of this, this is merely a figure of speech to support his incorrect strategy against Russia," he said.