MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. The West has unleashed a political and diplomatic war against Russia in a bid to contain Russia in the Balkans, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.

He recalled that the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia in Ukraine and is seeking to contain Russia in other regions. "The Balkans is another theater where they are, in fact, conducting a political, diplomatic, and psychological war against us," he said in an interview with Vesti.

According to the Russian diplomat, Western governments "are filling people's minds with utterly absurd ideas that if Russia is present in the Balkans, it will spell the end of the European Union and are not even giving people a chance to think for themselves."

He stressed that Russia has been present in the Balkans for centuries and will remain present there in the future. "History, geography, traditions, and sympathies cannot be changed," he explained.

However, in his words, the West has other plans. "They are seeking to destroy this, take these territories under their control, and then proceed to completely reshape both the people and society so that they forget their genetic heritage and traditions," he added.