Overview

• He said Russians who expected warm relations with the West after the USSR’s collapse were “simpletons,” adding that he once shared that hope.
• He alleged Western intelligence, naming the CIA, supported radicals in the North Caucasus in the 1990s with funding, political backing, weapons and helicopter transport.
• He argued ideological differences were a mere cover for power competition and said future confrontations could take on a civilizational character.
• He invoked ideas attributed to Zbigniew Brzezinski about dividing Russia into at least four parts, presenting them as illustrative of Western aims.
• He recounted that, upon becoming FSB director, he was shocked by foreign activities he observed despite his background in Soviet foreign intelligence.