MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine stems from the West’s desire to dominate the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with India Today on Tuesday.

"The real reason is the complacency of most countries in the world after the end of World War II, when our Western colleagues, led by the United States, declared themselves winners and, in violation of their promises to the Soviet and Russian leadership, they started moving NATO eastward. They kept saying: ‘Don’t worry, it’s a defensive alliance, it’s not a threat to your - Russian - security.’ But it was a defensive alliance when there were NATO and the Warsaw Treaty. And there was the Berlin Wall <...> so it was very clear what was the line of defense for this defensive alliance," he pointed out.

"When the opponent disappeared - both the Warsaw Treaty disappeared and the Soviet Union disappeared - they decided that they would move the line of defense eastward, and they did this five times without explaining against whom they were going to defend themselves, in the process building assault capacity and choosing former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, as a springboard against Russian interests," Lavrov added.

The current events are rooted in the US and the collective West's desire to rule and dominate the world and show everyone that there would be no multipolarity, the Russian top diplomat stressed. They created a springboard in Ukraine against Russia and pumped arms into the country, saying that Kiev may join NATO "and nobody can stop Ukraine if it so wishes," Lavrov noted.