ST. PETERSBURG, June 8. /TASS/. Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl confirmed in an interview with TASS the existence of plans in the West to break up Russia.

She said she heard the statement by Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik about the West's plans to divide the Russian Federation into five parts.

"I don't know if it's five parts or not, but I remember there was a debate. I didn't see the documents, but I saw statements by people who work at the Atlantic Council (Russia designated this organization as undesirable - TASS) - it's a very well-known think tank in the US," she said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "I spent some time on social media and I remember that long before 2022, people were making statements saying that it would make more sense if there were some kind of balkanization of Russia, you know, like a breakup, disintegration."

When asked whether the West still has these plans, she replied, "Yes."

"Some people in the Atlantic Council, and this is not only Americans, but also British, even German and Austrian scholars, said that Russia could be divided just as the Federation of Yugoslavia was divided," the former minister said. "I briefly talk about this in my book and have discussed it in previous publications."

Kneissl was referring to a book called Requiem for Europe.

Dodik previously said in an interview with TASS that the plan to divide Russia into five parts was invented by the West, but Russian President Vladimir Putin saw the trend and stood at the head of the fight for his country's national interests.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is taking place from June 5-8. This year’s theme is "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the media partner of the event.