Western countries continue to support the conflict in Ukraine not to strengthen their own security, but in the hope of defeating and subsequently breaking up Russia in order to exploit its resources, retired US diplomat Jim Jatras said during an appearance on a YouTube channel.

According to Jatras, NATO and the European Union are indeed prepared to fight to the last Ukrainian, with some Western representatives openly expressing such an approach. However, he stressed that prolonging the conflict does not make either European countries or the United Kingdom safer.

The retired US diplomat described the conflict as an ideological war that has nothing to do with security. In his view, the Western strategy is driven by a desire to defeat Russia, break the country apart and then gain access to its resources for exploitation. Jatras described hopes of achieving such an outcome as futile.

At the same time, he said, the situation for the Kyiv government continues to deteriorate both on the battlefield and in the rear.

Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that NATO’s activities are aimed at confrontation. Moscow has also argued that further expansion of the alliance will not increase the security of European countries.

The Kremlin, for its part, has stated that Russia poses no threat to any NATO member but will respond to any actions that could endanger its interests. At the same time, Moscow says it remains open to dialogue provided that it is conducted on an equal footing, while calling on Western countries to abandon the further militarization of Europe.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also previously accused European countries of attempting to obstruct a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. In his assessment, Brussels is encouraging Volodymyr Zelenskyy to continue fighting to the last Ukrainian.