MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The West seeks to target sore spots in interethnic and religious relations, with Ukraine being a vivid example of that, Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said.

"The US-led Western bloc is trying to maintain its global dominance, while the situation is rapidly changing. The bloc is trying to contain the development of other centers of power," he noted, as cited by the SVR press service. "It seeks to target sore spots in terms of interethnic and religious relations and history in order to trigger conflicts and sow instability," Naryshkin added.

The West’s approach became especially apparent in Ukraine, "where Russophobia and extreme and aggressive nationalism gained momentum," the SVR chief emphasized. Over the past years, Ukraine has turned from a once prosperous Soviet republic into a country with a declining economy, where people are getting increasingly poor, Naryshkin added.