OREANDA-NEWS. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace wrote in an op-ed for The Times that he revealed the "true intentions" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to him, Moscow, with statements that the West is preparing provocations in eastern Ukraine using chemical weapons, allegedly wants to divert the attention of opponents from the “true agenda.”

Wallace believes that it is not NATO's eastward expansion that threatens Russia, but the alliance's values. At the same time, the minister noted that Moscow's actions are a consequence of the interpretation of history, including Ukrainian, by Putin and "unfulfilled ambitions" regarding Ukraine.

According to the Briton, Ukraine has historically not been a part of Russia, since this country existed separately from Russia much longer than within it. Wallace also stressed that Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians are not one people.

Earlier, American journalist Neil Ferguson, in an article for Bloomberg, wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is determined to go to war with Ukraine,” and the head of state allegedly hinted at this back in July last year in his article “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians.”