MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Politicians in the West sought to weaken Russia from within, just like they did in Ukraine, but they failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a state-of-the-nation address.

"They essentially would like to do to Russia exactly what they did to many other regions of the world, including Ukraine: bring discord to our home and weaken us from within. But they miscalculated," the president said. "It is absolutely obvious today."

The West "faced the firm position and determination of our multinational people. Our soldiers and officers, Christians and Muslims, Buddhists and followers of Judaism, representatives of different ethnicities, cultures and regions have proved in practice, better than through a thousand words, that the centuries-old cohesion and unity of the people of Russia is an immense, all-conquering force. Standing together, shoulder to shoulder, they are fighting for their common, shared Motherland," Putin went on to say.