MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. External forces have sought to divide Russian society throughout the country’s more than thousand-year history, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations.

"Today, external forces are once again seeking to divide Russian society. Dear friends, this has always been the case throughout our history, which spans more than a thousand years," he said.

"The reason is clear: Russia has ultimately emerged as a vast, powerful and influential state. At different times and in different ways, all our geopolitical adversaries and rivals - and sometimes outright enemies - have sought to weaken or diminish Russia’s strategic potential or, ideally, dismember the country. No one wants a geopolitical competitor of this magnitude," Putin noted.

"I cannot say, dear friends, that these efforts over the centuries have always been fruitless. In part, the problem we are experiencing now is linked to those efforts, as well as to our own - to a certain extent - shortcomings. We have not always made the best decisions," the Russian leader said, addressing the event's participants.