Russia ruined the West's plans to expand NATO to the East, said Volodin

Flags of NATO member states near the bloc's headquarters in Brussels. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 8. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin believes that the intention of the G7 countries to «prevent victory» for Russia in Ukraine can be regarded as their recognition of the success of the special operation. The politician added that Moscow destroyed the plans of the West NATO expansion to the East. According to him, this explains why Russian security initiatives have not resonated with unfriendly countries. will lead to disasterG7 leaders previously issued a statement emphasizing that Russia should not «win» in Ukraine. Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.