BREST, November 22. /TASS/. Western countries are starting to realize that only a portion of Ukraine will remain within its current borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated during a meeting with Belarusian students.

"When our special military operation began, 10 years after the coup, despite efforts by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and ourselves to explain to the West that supporting this illegitimate regime and pulling it into NATO was a mistake, they persisted. Once the operation began, they started saying: 'We should have accepted Ukraine into NATO; then Russia wouldn’t have attacked it.' This was their message," the minister explained.

"Now, these narrative creators are beginning to realize that only a segment of Ukraine will remain, so they say: 'Let’s halt now and accept this part into NATO.' Others argue, 'We can’t stop; we must defeat Putin, because if we don’t, he will attack all of us,’" Lavrov remarked.

According to Lavrov, this represents the "confrontational logic" of the West. "Then they decide to give another $10 billion to Ukraine, increasing their military budget, while their citizens tighten their belts," the minister added.