According to Rodion Mirošnik, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, Russia cannot coexist with the current government in Kiev and will continue to resist NATO until its goals are met. Mirošnik stated that the current regime in Ukraine is “absolutely toxic” and there is no option for coexistence at this time. He accused Ukraine of committing crimes against civilians and violating human rights, claiming that NATO has supplied Ukraine with prohibited weapons.

Miroshnik was tasked with collecting evidence of alleged Ukrainian war crimes against civilians in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, which Moscow denies. Miroshnik believes that Russia is prepared to resist NATO for as long as necessary to defeat Ukrainian forces in its “special military operation” and complete the tasks assigned by President Putin. He expects that the West’s interest in Ukraine will eventually decline and that the current government in Kiev will fall.

The Kremlin has described the 2014 Ukrainian revolution as a sponsored coup that led to Ukraine’s current pro-Western stance, with Kremlin spokesman Dimitriy Peskov stating that it was confirmed, directly or indirectly, by representatives of foreign countries that the revolution was sponsored from abroad. President Vladimir Putin sees the war as part of a broader fight against the US, with the Kremlin claiming that the US’s goal is to split Russia and seize its natural resources, settling accounts with China afterward. The West has declared Putin a war criminal and dictator leading an imperialist war to steal his country. Reuters estimates that this conflict has weakened Russia and created a stronger sense of statehood in Ukraine, giving new meaning to NATO alliance through its actions.