Does the West have a plan to divide Russia?

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his last interview that the goal of the West is to divide Russia and divide it into small states. The owner of the Kremlin claimed that there is a concrete document in the West about the disintegration of Russia.

Putin is trying to justify the war of aggression against Ukraine when he says that "the West wants to divide Russia". In other words, according to the logic of the Kremlin owner, if the West's plan to divide Russia was drawn up years ago, he struck first by starting a war against Ukraine. This is based on the principle that Putin said in an interview years ago: "The streets of Leningrad taught me that if a fight is inevitable, you must strike first."

Does what Putin said reflect reality?

After the collapse of the USSR, Western countries established partnership relations with Russia, began close cooperation with Boris Yeltsin, who was democratically elected president, and turned the organization into the "big eight" by adding Russia to the ranks of the "big seven". However, the destructive war launched by Russia in Chechnya, the bombing of cities and villages, and the death of thousands of innocent people made Western countries think a lot. After Putin came to power, he started another war against Chechnya and subjugated this region at the cost of heavy losses. Western countries were concerned about Russia's use of excessive force.

Nevertheless, the USA and European countries quickly forgot about the two wars in Chechnya and continued cooperation with Putin's Russia. Because in all cases, Chechnya was Russian territory, and the West accepted that the Kremlin had the right to ensure its territorial integrity. In the early 2000s, Western leaders often met with Putin and exchanged ideas with him. However, the war started by Russia against Georgia was a violation of red lines. Despite this, the West was still ready to forgive Russia. It is no coincidence that sanctions against Russia were not accepted for the war it started against Georgia. This reassured the Kremlin and encouraged the annexation of Crimea in 2014. This time, the West did not forgive the whims of the Kremlin and accepted sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin did not draw conclusions and in 2022 started an aggressive war against Ukraine.

It cannot be ruled out that the West has a plan to weaken or divide Russia after all this. If there is such a plan, it was drawn up after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The concern of the Kremlin owner is also understandable from the sentence "They want to create small states in place of Russia". The West has experience in destroying empires like the USSR. Russia is not a stronger state than the USSR.

"Atlas" Research Center