ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. The West sought to divide Russia into five parts, President Vladimir Putin has recognized the trends and is at the forefront of the fight for his country's national interests, President of Republika Srpska (one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's entities) Milorad Dodik told TASS.

"Twenty years ago, the West was just practicing on Yugoslavia so that years later they could do the same thing in Russia, they wanted to get as close to Russia as possible, occupy Ukraine completely so that in further stages they could divide Russia. We know about the existence of such a proposal: to divide Russia into five parts. They have learned to do this in many parts of the world, and now they have finally come here. They thought they could do it," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

According to Dodik, Putin "immediately recognized all these tendencies and stood at the forefront of the struggle for the interests of the Russian national state." "Therefore, Vladimir Putin is the national wealth of Russia and the entire Russian people," the president emphasized.

"The main goal of the West, of Europe, which has absolutely no resources, no gas, no oil, no rare metals, and no leaders, is to seize the resources that belong to Russia," he concluded.