MOSCOW, April 9. /TASS/. Western countries do not want to see a strong and independent Russia and seek to strategically defeat it, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said at a meeting of the council’s research board.

According to him, currently Russia is facing numerous challenges. "Frequently they emanate directly from our geopolitical opponents, who do not wish to see Russia as a strong and independent state," he noted.

"The US and its allies have flatly refused to recognize Russia’s vital interests in the national security sphere and now are doing everything to deliver a strategic defeat to our country, both on the battlefield and in other areas," Patrushev said.