US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 25The United States wants Russia to be weakened so that Moscow cannot take the same actions as in Ukraine, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said after talks with the Ukrainian authorities. «We want to see Russia weakened to such an extent that she could not do such things as she did … (in Ukraine — ed.),» Austin said, his press conference in Poland was broadcast by NBC. A number of Western countries have imposed new sanctions against the Russian Federation because of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and the sanctions dealt a serious blow to the entire world economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people. Putin also said that the United States and the European Union had effectively defaulted on their obligations to Russia, freezing its foreign exchange reserves. He added that current events draw a line under the global dominance of the West in both politics and economics. According to him, Russia is not going to isolate itself, it cannot be strictly isolated in the modern world.
