SOCHI, November 8. /TASS/. The West has brought the situation to a coup in Ukraine and forced Russia to begin the special military operation; in this sense, it achieved its goal, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, speaking at the plenary meeting of the Valdai international discussion club.

"[The West] needs to rip Russia and Europe apart, especially Russia and Germany, France. So it has brought the situation to a coup in Ukraine and to hostilities in the southeast, in Donbass. They simply forced us to resort to response actions. In this sense, they have achieved their goal," he said.

"I believe, the same is happening in Asia, on the Korean Peninsula. In reality, we see that the global minority seeks to keep its power my preserving and reinforcing its military bloc. However, even within this very bloc, it is becomes more and more apparent that the ‘big brother’s’ diktat does not contribute to the achievement of goals, set before everyone," the Russian leader said.